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METHODIST 
DICTIONARY 

A brief work on 

METHODIST TERMINOLOGY 

Prepared in the interest of Ministers, Members, 
and Friends of the 

Methodist Episcopal Church 



By 

JOSEPH F. ANDERSON 

Secretary of the Central Pennsylvania Conference 




New York: EATON & MAINS 
Cincinnati: JENNINGS & GRAHAM 



> A'fe> 



Cepyright, 1909, by 
BATON & MAINS. 



iI3 



DEDICATED 

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE 

CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA CONFERENGE 

OF THE 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 

WITH WHOM I HAVE LABORED FOR A 

THIRD OF A CENTURY 



PREFACE 

This small work on Methodist terminology has 
been prepared for the use of ministers, especially 
the younger of them, official members, probation- 
ers under instruction for full membership, Sunday 
school officers and teachers, Epworth League 
officers and members, newspaper reporters, and 
members and friends of the Church in general. 

The aim has been to furnish in compact and 
convenient form, in alphabetical arrangement, in- 
formation on the vital points of history, doctrine, 
law, and polity in general, of the denomination. 
In collecting and defining terms the design has 
been to cover the various subjects so related. The 
thought of the author, therefore, is that by a 
careful reading and study of this little volume a 
comprehensive knowledge of our great, though 
somewhat complex, denominational system may 
be easily and quickly acquired, while as a key to 
and digest of much of the Discipline it will possess 
increased value as a book of reference. 

For some years the writer has had the opinion 
that our Church has need of a glossary or dic- 
tionary of ecclesiastical terms, and that such a 
work, carefully prepared, would be very useful to 
our ministry and membership. With that convic- 
tion its preparation was undertaken. If the work 
shall add value to the standard literature of the 
denomination, and prove serviceable to those for 

5 



6 PREFACE 

whom intended, I shall be glad for the thought 
and labor expended in its production. 

With the earnest wish that the student of the 
various articles contained in the pages which fol- 
low may be both pleased and profited, and that the 
book may receive an appreciative welcome, it is 
sent forward. 

I here acknowledge with gratitude my indebt- 
edness to the Rev. Milton K. Foster, D.D., of 
Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and the Rev. G. Her- 
bert Richardson, D.D., of Baltimore, Maryland, 
for services rendered in reviewing the manuscript. 

Joseph F. Anderson. 

Emporium, Pennsylvania, October, 1909. 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 

(Prepared with Special Reference to the Methodist 
Episcopal Church) 

Abandoned Church Property. — Property of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, which by changing 
population, or for any other reason, has been 
allowed to go into disuse, is of this class. Regard- 
ing the disposition of such property the General 
Conference of 1876 enacted the following: "In all 
cases where church property is abandoned, or no 
longer used for the purpose originally designed, it 
shall be the duty of the trustees, if any remain, to 
sell such property and pay over the proceeds to 
the Annual Conference within whose bounds it is 
located; and where no such lawful trustees remain, 
it shall be the duty of said Annual Conference to 
secure the custody of such church property by such 
means as the laws of the State may afford, subject 
to be returned in the same manner and upon the 
same contingencies as named in Tf 374" (Discipline, 
1876, ^f 381). Such funds are subject to a return 
to the society in case of reorganization, and the 
erection of a new church building within five 
years after such transfer of funds (Discipline, 1908, 
1f334). 

Abstinence, as enjoined by the Rules of the 
Church, is interpreted to mean refraining from the 
use of certain articles of diet, or moderation in 
their use, for physical and spiritual benefit. Total 
abstinence from the use of intoxicating beverages 
and narcotics is enjoined by the Book of Disci- 
pline (Discipline, 1908, Appendix, If 48). 

7 



8 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

Administrative Boards, — These are trustees, 
managers, committees, boards of control created, 
elected, or authorized by General Conference to 
oversee, guide, and direct the business of the vari- 
ous benevolent, educational, and publishing organ- 
izations of the Church, along with Annual, District, 
and Quarterly Conferences, the leaders and stew- 
ards' meeting, the official board, board of trustees, 
Sunday School Board, Epworth League, and other 
organizations of the local church, working under 
direction and by authority of the General Confer- 
ence. 

Adoption. — In a civil sense by " adoption" is 
meant the receiving into a family a stranger, 
usually a young person, and by legal forms con- 
stituting such person an heir, conveying to him 
all the rights, privileges, and benefits belonging 
to a child legitimately born in the family. An 
ancient custom, practiced among the Jews, 
Romans, and Egyptians, as well as by the mod- 
ern Christian nations of Europe and America. 
In a scriptural sense by "adoption" is meant an 
act of divine grace by which a repentant believing 
sinner is received into the family of God, and ad- 
mitted to every spiritual privilege and blessing, 
including the heavenly inheritance (Rom. 8. 15-17) . 

Agape. — A feast of love, a friendly or social 
meal observed among the early Christians, men- 
tion of which is first made in the book of Jude, 
twelfth verse (American Standard Version). It 
was practiced ordinarily as a preparation for the 
feast of Eucharist, the celebration of which usually 
followed. See Love Feast. 

Alms. — Money or other articles contributed for 
the relief of the poor as an act of charity. The duty 
and importance of almsgiving are taught in both 
the Old and New Testament, but no specific 
amount or plan of giving is stated. In the Meth- 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 9 

odist Episcopal Church, prior to administering the 
sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and during the 
reading of passages from God's Word, it is recom- 
mended that alms be received for the poor. 

Altar, — Originally the term was applied to an 
elevated structure, usually made of stone, upon 
which an offering was made to the Deity. In 
Methodist churches the altar is the communion 
rail at which communicants kneel to receive the 
sacrament, and at which, during special services, 
penitents may kneel for prayer and confession. 

Amen. — A Hebrew word of frequent occurrence 
in the Old Testament, and meant assent to or ap- 
proval of a sentence or statement. The expression 
is equivalent to saying, "So may it be." It is used 
as a solemn closing word to most of the New Testa- 
ment books, and is employed in the ritual, and at 
the end of creed, hymns, and prayers. 

American Bible Society. — Is interdenominational, 
located at Astor Place, New York city. It is sup- 
ported by the different Protestant denominations 
in America. On its board of managers are several 
representatives from the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. Was organized May, 1816, by delegates 
coming together from thirty-five other Bible So- 
cieties in the United States, to which these local 
organizations afterward became auxiliary, the 
number of such having now increased to more 
than fifteen hundred, located in different parts of 
the world. By this Society upward of two mil- 
lion copies of the Bible, and portions thereof, in 
more than one hundred different languages, are 
being annually published and distributed. By the 
Book of Discipline an annual collection is ordered 
taken in the congregations of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church for the support of this Society. 

Amusements Forbidden. — The taking such di- 
versions as cannot be used in the name of the 



10 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

Lord Jesus (General Rules) ; and more particularly 
specified in Iflf 68 and 260 of the Discipline of 
1908. 

Anniversary. — The holding annually, especially 
during the sessions of an Annual Conference, spe- 
cial public services in the interest of the various 
benevolence boards and societies of the Church, 
when the purpose, plan, and progress of the work 
of each is presented, usually by officers and 
representatives of these great organizations. 

Annuity. — An allowance or income paid an- 
nually. The Annuity Fund of an Annual Con- 
ference is a sum made up of dividends from the 
Book Concern, Chartered Fund, income from any 
Permanent Fund created by an Annual Confer- 
ence for annuity purposes, along with such part 
of receipts by collections from congregations as 
the Conference may decide upon, with special 
gifts, donations, and bequests made for such 
purpose; such' sum to be distributed annually 
among Conference claimants upon the basis of 
the number of years spent in the active ministry 
(Discipline, 1908, If If 423-427). 

Appeal, or Appeals. — Taking a cause from a 
lower to a higher ecclesiastical court or tribunal 
for review or rehearing. The privilege of such 
procedure is given to a convicted member of the 
Church, who shall have the right of appeal to a 
Court of Appeals, made up of Triers of Appeals 
selected from the district; to a convicted local 
preacher, who shall have the right of appeal to 
his Annual Conference; to a convicted member of 
an Annual Conference, who shall have the right 
of appeal to a Judicial Conference; and to a con- 
victed bishop, who shall have the right of appeal 
to the General Conference. 

Appointments. — District, pastorates, editorial, 
publishing, educational, and other work to which 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 11 

preachers are assigned by a bishop, or elected by 
General Conference or other authority of the 
Church. Also charges to which local preachers 
may be assigned as supplies, by district superin- 
tendents. See Non-Pastoral Positions. 

Apportionments, — The amounts estimated by 
the proper persons as needed for support of 
ministers, bishops, district superintendents, pas- 
tors, and Conference claimants; also for Foreign 
Missions, Home Missions and Church Extension, 
Freedmen's Aid Society, Board of Sunday Schools, 
General Conference expenses, and other dis- 
ciplinary causes. 

Appropriations. — These are the grants made by 
the various committees, boards, and societies for 
the support and advancement of the work over 
which they have entire or partial supervision. 
The General Committees of Foreign Missions, 
Home Missions and Church Extension, Freedmen's 
Aid Society, and Boards of Education, Sunday 
Schools, and Conference Claimants, make appro- 
priations of money placed in their hands to be 
used for such purposes. 

Apostasy. — Revolt of a professing Christian 
against the commonly accepted Christian faith; 
secession from the Church of Christ and dis- 
owning his name; schism; heresy. 

Apostles' Creed. — A creed is a confession of re- 
ligious faith, oral or written, and may set forth 
the essentials, or the entire body of doctrines 
held by a religious organization. The Apostles' 
Greed, so named, while probably written several 
centuries after the apostles, but embodying the 
principles of their faith as gathered from their 
writings, contains the essential doctrines of 
Christianity. 

Arbitration. — A process for the settlement of 
disagreements, business or otherwise, among mem- 



12 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

bers of the Church, by five arbiters, chosen as 
the Discipline directs; that is, two arbiters are to 
be chosen by one party, and two by the other 
party, which four arbiters shall choose a fifth, all 
being members of the Church, who, with the 
preacher in charge presiding, shall hear and decide 
the case. Effort at settlement by such method 
must precede litigation (Discipline, 1908, ^ 263- 
266). 

Arminianism. — A system of theology taught by 
Jacobus Arminius, professor of divinity in the 
University of Leyden, Holland, in the sixteenth 
century; which system, later modified by his fol- 
lowers, is expressed in five propositions, which, 
abridged, are as follows: That God had indeed 
made an eternal decree, but only on the conditional 
terms that all who believe in Christ shall be saved, 
while all who refuse to believe must perish. That 
Christ died for all men, but none except believers 
are really saved by his death; the intention, in 
other words, is universal, but the efficacy may 
be restricted by unbelief. That no man is of him- 
self able to exercise a saving faith, but must be 
born again of God in Christ through the Holy 
Spirit. That without the grace of God man can 
neither think, will, nor do anything good; yet 
that grace does not act in men in an irresistible 
way. That believers are able, by the aid of the 
Holy Spirit, to victoriously resist sin. These views 
utterly reject the Calvinistic doctrine of a limited 
atonement, election, and predestination. The Ar- 
minian theology was accepted by John Wesley 
and John Fletcher, and later by that eminent 
Methodist theologian, Richard Watson, as set 
forth in his Theological Institutes. Hence the 
fundamental doctrines of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, in these regards, are Arminian, being 
deemed agreeable to the Word of God. 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 13 

Articles of Religion. — Tenets of religious belief. 
There are twenty-five of them, found in the Book 
of Discipline, and constitute in large part the 
doctrines of the Methodist Episcopal Church and 
of kindred Methodist bodies. They are an abridg- 
ment of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Estab- 
lished Church of England, were prepared by Mr. 
Wesley (slight changes afterward made), and 
adopted at the organization of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and form a part of the consti- 
tutional law of the Church. 

Assurance, Christian. — A gracious state of con- 
scious salvation; full persuasion of acceptance 
with God; the Hofy Spirit's testimony to the new 
birth of the soul. Mr. Wesley and the early Meth- 
odists greatly emphasized the necessity of every 
Christian being in possession of assurance of sal- 
vation, believing, as they did, that its attainment 
is possible to every child of God. This emphatic 
teaching gave life and power to their ministry, 
and differentiated them from most other teachers 
of the Word of God in that early day. 

Atonement. — The doctrine of the vicarious and 
sacrificial death of Christ for our disobedient and 
fallen race. It proceeds upon the ground that 
man, having sinned and incurred the divine dis- 
pleasure and the penalty of the law, must have 
been lost, but for the mediation of Christ, who 
suffered in his stead, making it possible for God 
to "be just, and the justifier of him that hath 
faith in Jesus. " The death of Christ, therefore, 
becomes the ground of forgiveness and of recon- 
ciliation, hence, of the sinner's hope of salvation. 
To be "at-one" with and reconciled to God through 
the mediation of the one Mediator, "himself man, 
Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for 
all," is to be in possession of the benefits of the 
atonement. 



14 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

Auditing Accounts. — A Committee on Auditing 
Accounts shall be elected by the Quarterly Con- 
ference, whose duty it shall be "to audit the books 
of church treasurers, recording stewards, and 
Sunday school treasurers within the Quarterly 
Conference" (Discipline, 1908, If 102, § 1). 

Backslide. — Retrogression in religious experi- 
ence. A return to a former careless, indifferent, 
or sinful life after conversion or reformation; the 
losing in whole or in part the spiritual life; ship- 
wreck of faith. 

Band Meetings. — Weekly meetings held among 
members of the Church of the same sex; based 
on the principle of fraternal or maternal societies, 
for religious instruction and encouragement. 

Baptism, Mode of. — The Methodist Episcopal 
Church gives the choice of sprinkling, pouring, 
and immersion to every adult person, and to the 
parents of every child to be baptized; hence the 
candidate and not the Church determines the 
particular manner in which water shall be applied 
in baptism, the Church holding as scriptural the 
various modes mentioned; sprinkling, however, is 
the usual mode employed. 

Baptized Children. — The Methodist Episcopal 
Church regards all baptized children as standing 
in visible covenant relation to God, and when a 
baptized child shall have attained unto proper age 
and given evidence of piety, on recommendation 
of the official board or the leaders and stewards' 
meeting, the pastor approving, may be admitted 
into membership in the Church (Discipline, 1908, 
If 53). 

Benediction. — The invocation of the divine bless- 
ing upon a congregation of worshipers at the con- 
clusion of a service. In dismissing an audience the 
Discipline directs that, for ordinary services, the 
apostolic benediction be used, as follows: "The 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 15 

grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, 
and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you 
all." For sacramental, consecration, and ordina- 
tion services another form of benediction is pre- 
scribed in the ritual to be used. 

Benevolent Boards and Societies, — They are: 
Board of Foreign Missions, Board of Home Mis- 
sions and Church Extension, Board of Education, 
Board of Sunday Schools, Freedmen's Aid So- 
ciety, Church Temperance Society, Hospitals, 
Tracts, Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, 
Woman's Home Missionary Society, and Dea- 
eoness Board. 
Bishop. — Another name for general superintend- 
; ent, to which office an elder is elected for an 
! undefined term, ordinarily continuing for life, but 
; which may be changed from effective to non- 
\ effective or superannuation, or may be discon- 
i tinued, by the General Conference. He is 
I empowered to ordain deacons and elders, conse- 
erate bishops, preside in Annual and General 
Conferences, form the districts according to his 
judgment, fix the appointments of the preachers, 
and, in association with other pastors, execute 
the laws of the Church. A bishop is constituted 
by the election of the General Conference and the 
laying on of the hands of three bishops, or at 
least of one bishop and two elders (Discipline, 
1908, 1f1f 192-194). See Orders. 

Bishop's Cabinet. — A council composed of the 
district superintendents of the Conference over 
which the bishop is presiding, with whom he may 
advise especially in matters pertaining to Con- 
ference appointments. The Cabinet is a cus- 
tomary expedient but without constitutional 
recognition. The itinerant system involves three 
things: That the minister shall relinquish the 
right to choose his field of labor; that the con- 



16 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

gregation shall relinquish the right to choose its 
minister; and, lastly, that these relinquished 
rights shall be invested in a third party who shall 
act for the others in the adjustment of appoint- 
ments, which third party is the bishop. 

Bishop, Missionary* — A superintendent in a spe- 
cific missionary field, to which field his episcopal 
jurisdiction is limited. 

Bishop's (Episcopal) Residence. — The official 
residence of each effective bishop, designated 
quadrennially by the General Conference Standing 
Committee on Episcopacy, subject to approval of 
the General Conference. These residences are dis- 
tributed among the chief cities of the United 
States and foreign countries. 

Bishop's Semiannual Meeting, — The Board of 
Bishops meets twice in each year, usually in the 
months of April and November, at such place as 
may be agreed upon. The chief business of these 
conferences is to make assignment of bishops to 
meet and preside over the Annual Conferences 
throughout the world; in other words, arrange 
their itinerary. There are spring and fall Con- 
ferences. A bishop's jurisdiction over a Conference 
dates from the time of his assignment to it until 
his successor is appointed, which is done at a 
subsequent meeting (Discipline, 1908, p. 467). 

Bonded. — All persons, both in an Annual or in 
the General Conference, holding trust funds shall 
give bonds in a good and sufficient sum (Discipline, 
1908, If 443). 

Board of Control. — The governing and managing 
body of the Epworth League, composed of one 
member from each General Conference district, 
plus one at large if the number be odd, ministers 
and laymen in equal number, and one bishop, 
who shall be general president; along with the 
editor of the Epworth Herald and the general 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 17 

secretary as advisory members; and it shall meet 
at least four times in each quadrennium (Disci- 
pline, 1908, If 445, § 5, and p. 437). 

Book Committee. — Is composed of fifteen mem- 
bers, one from each General Conference district, 
chosen for a term of eight years, with a local 
committee of five members from New Y6rk and 
vicinity, and five members from Cincinnati and 
vicinity; to have general supervision of the pub- 
lishing interests of the Church; fix the salaries of 
the bishops, publishing agents, and of all official 
editors not otherwise provided for; elect a book 
editor, fix the place for holding the sessions of the 
General Conference when authorized to do so, 
provide for the expenses of the same, and perform 
numerous other duties (Discipline, 1908, *[[ 355, and 
p. 431). 

Book Concern. — The word "concern," meaning 
a business enterprise, company, or establishment, 
was combined with the word "book," and origin- 
ally adopted in the year 1789, as the name of the 
book business or publishing house of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, which at the first was estab- 
lished in Philadelphia on a borrowed capital of 
$600; removed to New York in 1804, with a branch 
house in Cincinnati established in 1820. The 
Book Concern has had a phenomenal growth, and, 
with its two branches and numerous Depositories, 
constitutes one of the largest publishing institu- 
tions of its kind in the world. 

Book Depositories. — Of these there are six in 
number, located respectively at Boston, Pittsburg, 
Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City (Missouri), and San 
Francisco, where are kept on sale supplies of the 
publications of the Church, furnished by the 
publishing agents at New York and at Cincinnati. 

Book Editor. — Is elected by the Book Committee, 
to whom is given editorial supervision of all manu- 



IS METHODIST DICTIONARY 

scripts and all other publications bought or other- 
wise procured which shall bear the imprint of 
the Methodist Book Concern or its publishing 
agents, with office at New York and Cincinnati. 
He is also editor of tracts (Discipline, 1908, 
If 346). 

Book Steward. — The name given to John Dick- 
ins, the first publishing agent of the Church in 
America, who was placed in charge of the Book 
Concern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1789, 
and from whom was borrowed the money with 
which the business was started. 

Brotherhood. — See Methodist Brotherhood, 

Boundaries. — The boundaries of the several 
Annual Conferences are determined by the Gen- 
eral Conference largely through a Committee on 
Boundaries, of its own appointment, over which 
one of the bishops shall preside. The committee's 
report is to be acted upon by the General Con- 
ference immediately, and without debate (Dis- 
cipline, 1908, If 450). 

Bureau of Cities. — With a view of more effec- 
tually promoting city evangelization, the Board 
of Home Missions and Church Extension is 
authorized and encouraged to organize a society 
known as the Bureau of Cities, to be directed and 
administered by the board in harmony with 
other departments (Discipline, 1908, If 395, § 1; 
11404, §2). 

Call to Preach. — Men moved by the Holy 
Ghost to preach the gospel, attested and sup- 
ported by internal and external evidences. It is 
heart conviction, "the urge of God." From the 
very first, Methodism has affirmed the necessity 
of a direct divine call to the gospel ministry. 

Camp Meetings. — Tent meetings held in groves 
for a week or more with numerous daily services, 
the worshipers enjoying the benefits and blessings 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 19 

of protracted devotion, often attended with re- 
markable manifestations of divine power, resulting 
in many conversions. 

Catholic. — The word "catholic" early came into 
use among Christians to differentiate the orthodox 
Church from the national Jewish Church, and from 
various sects and heresies. As the word is taken 
to mean "general," or "universal," it must in- 
clude all believers in Ghrist of all denominations. 
The phrase in the Apostles' Creed, "the holy 
catholic Church," is often, though improperly, 
understood to refer to the Roman Catholic Church; 
but as the word means "universal," it cannot 
properly apply to the papal Church or to any 
other single denomination to the exclusion of 
other believers in Christ. 

Character, Passage of. — In the early Methodist 
Conferences held in England the character of each 
preacher was inquired into, complaints heard, 
and difficulties disposed of — a practice ever since 
observed. At the session of an Annual Conference, 
before the district superintendent or other mem- 
ber of Conference makes his report, the question 
is asked by the presiding bishop, "Is there any- 
thing against him?" If no objection is made, his 
character is passed and his report received. If 
complaint is lodged, the hearing of his report is 
postponed and his case properly referred for 
investigation. 

Charges against a Member, Grounds for. — 
These are: Immoral conduct, defamation of char- 
acter, lying, dishonesty; buying, selling, or using 
intoxicating liquors as a beverage, or in any way 
helping or encouraging traffic therein; taking 
such diversions as cannot be used in the name of 
the Lord Jesus; indulging sinful words and tem- 
pers; causing dissension; habitually neglecting the 
means of grace; dishonest insolvency and fraud; 



20 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

or for any crime expressly forbidden in the Word 
of God sufficient to exclude a person from the 
kingdom of grace and glory (Discipline, 1908, 
ff 256-268). 

Charges against a Minister, Grounds for. — 
These are: Indulging in improper tempers, words, 
or actions; contracting debts he is unable to pay, 
or acting dishonestly; holding religious services 
within the bounds of a mission, circuit, or station 
when requested not to do so by the preacher in 
charge; disseminating doctrines contrary to the 
Articles of Religion and other doctrinal standards 
of the Church; declining or ceasing to do the work 
to which he has been officially appointed; for 
inefficiency; engaging in secular business; im- 
morality or crime expressly forbidden in the 
Word of God sufficient to exclude a person from 
the kingdom of grace and glory. An Annual Con- 
ference has power to hear, try, reprove, rebuke, 
suspend, deprive of ministerial office, expel, or 
acquit (Discipline, 1908, 1ffl 80 and 234). 

Chartered Fund. — A permanent fund established 
by the General Conference of 1796, and was 
created by the gifts of the people in that day, in 
the interests of distressed effective preachers, 
superannuated preachers, and widows and orphans 
of preachers. The fund, which does not now 
exceed $50,000, is administered by a Board of 
Trustees, whose office is in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
vania. Only the interest on the money invested 
can be used, and this is equally divided annually 
among the several Annual Conferences, amount- 
ing, in the last several years, to $22 for each 
Conference. 

Charters. — Are acts of Legislature, whereby 
various bodies are incorporated, constituting them 
bodies corporate, conferring upon them the legal 
rights to hold property; and in which acts the 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 21 

duties and privileges belonging to such incor- 
porated bodies are fully specified. The Discipline 
directs that Boards of Trustees and Annual Con- 
ferences shall become bodies corporate, wherever 
practicable, under the laws of the States or Ter- 
ritories within whose bounds they are located. 
The Boards of Foreign Missions and Education 
are incorporated according to the laws of the 
State of New York; the Board of Home Missions 
and Church Extension, incorporated according to 
the laws of the State of Pennsylvania; Boards of 
Sunday Schools and Conference Claimants, ac- 
cording to the laws of the State of Illinois; Board 
of Managers of Freedmen's Aid Society and Board 
of Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
according to the laws of the State of Ohio. 

Children's Day. — The second Sunday in June, or 
such other Sunday as may be more convenient, 
has been officially set apart to be known as Chil- 
dren's Day, when exercises of a suitable character 
may be conducted in each school, with a view to 
promoting the intellectual and spiritual welfare 
of members and friends of the Sunday school, at 
which time an offering is made as part of the 
service, in the interest of the Sunday School Chil- 
dren's Fund, to be devoted to educational purposes 
(Discipline, 1908, If 414, § 2). 

Children's Fund. — A fund made up almost en- 
tirely of collections lifted in the Sunday schools 
and congregations on Children's Day. It is ad- 
ministered by the Board of Education in aid of 
worthy and needy young persons coming from 
the Sunday schools, seeking, in our denomina- 
tional schools, an education to fit them for 
ministerial, missionary, or educational work in 
the Church. Each Annual Conference is entitled 
to participate in the distribution of this fund, 
where the annual collection has been lifted, when 



22 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

students come therefrom properly recommended. 
The aid given is in the nature of a loan. 

Christian Advocate, — The name given to eight 
religious weekly newspapers, published under Gen- 
eral Conference authority; the oldest of them being 
the New York publication, which made its ap- 
pearance in the year 1826. The editor of each of 
these official Advocates is elected quadrennially 
by the General Conference. 

Christian Advocate, California. — Published at San 
Francisco, California. 

Christian Advocate, Central. — Published at Kan- 
sas City, Missouri. 

Christian Advocate, Northwestern. — Published at 
Chicago, Illinois. 

Christian Advocate, Pacific. — Published at Port- 
land, Oregon. 

Christian Advocate, Pittsburg. — Published at 
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 

Christian Advocate, Southwestern. — Published at 
New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Christian Advocate, Western. — Published at Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio. 

Christliche Apologete. — A German religious 
weekly newspaper, published at Cincinnati, Ohio, 
for the benefit of the German Methodist population. 

Christian Republic. — A monthly paper pub- 
lished in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by and in 
the interest of the Board of Home Missions and 
Church Extension. 

Christian Student. — The name of a quarterly pub- 
lication issued by the Board of Education from the 
New York office. 

Church Extension Society. — The work of this 
society is the expansion of the Church into unoccu- 
pied territory of our country, by assisting in the 
erection of church buildings in the more needy 
and destitute parts of it. Specially inviting fields 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 23T 

of operations have been found in the southern 
and western sections. The aid given is by dona- 
tion and loan. Thousands of churches have been 
erected so assisted. It was organized by the 
General Conference of 1864. In 1872 the name 
was changed to "Board of Church Extension." 
The work of the society has been carried on by a 
board, general committee, and corresponding sec- 
retaries. On January 1, 1907, the board w T as con- 
joined with Home Missions, and its work is now 
being done by the Board of Home Missions and 
Church Extension (which see). This union was 
effected by the General Conference Commission on 
Consolidation. 

Church Music. — Is a part of divine worship in 
which all the worshipers should unite; hence it is 
important that due attention be given to the 
cultivation of sacred music. Hymns suitable for 
the occasion should be selected, and tunes should 
be suited to the sentiment, while the singing should 
be animated, and formality avoided as far as pos- 
sible (Discipline, 1908, f 72). 

Church Music, Committee on. — Such a committee 
shall be appointed annually by the Quarterly Con- 
ference for each charge, if desired by the pastor, 
consisting of three or more persons, of which the 
pastor shall be chairman, which, cooperating with 
him, shall regulate all matters relating to this 
part of divine worship. The committee, however, 
shall in every respect be subject to Quarterly 
Conference control (Discipline, 1908, If 72, § 4). 

Church Records. — Are such records as are kept 
of the membership, of the proceedings of the 
leaders and stewards' meeting, official board, 
Sunday School Board, Board of Trustees, and 
Quarterly Conference. 

Church Records, Committee on. — Is appointed by 
the Quarterly Conference, whose duty it is to 



24 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

examine the church records statedly, and report 
to the Quarterly Conference, stating whether or 
not in its judgment they are properly kept. 

Circuit. — Is composed of two or more preaching 
places, constituting a pastoral charge. 

Circuit Rider. — A Methodist preacher on horse- 
back going from one appointment to another on 
his circuit of large dimensions and many preaching 
places, to which he has been officially assigned. 
In early Methodism this was the almost universal 
mode of travel. Thrown across the saddle was a 
pair of large pockets made of leather, called "saddle 
pockets," containing Bibles, hymn books, Disci- 
plines, and other books and periodicals, to be sold 
and for the minister's use, along with articles of 
clothing, so constituting library and wardrobe. 
Much of his reading and sermon-making was done 
in the saddle. His was pioneer gospel missionary 
work, which prepared the way for smaller circuits, 
and stations with capacious church edifices and 
large congregations of worshipers. 

City Evangelization. — City evangelization is to be 
encouraged and directed by the Board of Home 
Missions and Church Extension, especially among 
foreign-speaking peoples. The board is to organize 
Bureaus of Cities, and "to encourage with resources 
and influence the well-established organizations for 
city evangelization, and to promote similar organi- 
ations so far as practicable in all cities of the United 
States" (Discipline, 1908, If 395, §§ 1 and 2). 

City Evangelization Union, National. — This Union 
is composed of representatives of all local bureaus 
and unions in all cities of the United States work- 
ing for city evangelization and church extension 
under direction of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
The purpose of the National Union is to promote 
the efficiency of all local bureaus and unions, 
bringing them into closer fraternal relations; and 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 25 

it "shall work in cooperation with the Board of 
Home Missions and Church Extension" (Disci- 
pline, 1908, If 404). 

Class Leader. — He is appointed by the preacher 
in charge, and is to conduct meetings for prayer, 
self-examination, and testimony, among members 
of the church, to whom he may give such advices, 
counsel, and encouragement from time to time as 
the individual cases may seem to require. He is a 
subpastor. 

Class Meetings. — They originated with Mr. Wes- 
ley, who formed into societies those who came to 
him for religious instruction. They were after- 
ward called classes, over whom was placed a leader 
whose duty it was to see at least once a week each 
of the dozen persons placed under his care, in order 
to inquire after their soul's welfare and give such 
advices as occasion required. The class meeting 
has ever been a powerful stimulus to the spiritual 
lives of its attendants. 

Collect. — A short prayer forming part of the 
ritual used for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, 
the burial of the dead, ordination of deacons and 
elders, and for the consecration of bishops, in the 
recital of which the congregation joins with the 
minister officiating. 

Commissions. — Committees composed of a bishop 
or bishops, ministers and laymen, appointed by the 
General Conference or by the bishops authorized 
to do so by the General Conference, to perform 
certain duties of a specific and usually of a pre- 
liminary character. Commissions were appointed 
by the General Conference of 1908 on the fed- 
eration of certain named Methodist bodies; on 
Federation of Colored Methodist Churches; on 
Ecumenical Conference; on Evangelism; on Ju- 
dicial Procedure; and on Ministerial Support, this 
latter was authorized to be appointed by the 



26 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

bishops. From each of these commissions a report 
of proceedings is to be made to the next General 
Conference (Discipline, 1908, Appendix, Tf^f 23, 51, 
53, 54, 57). 

Commissioner. — An elder appointed by a bishop 
to take the evidence in case of a member of an 
Annual Conference on trial; to make a record of 
the proceedings and evidence, and lay the same 
before the Conference; upon which evidence, and 
such other as may be admitted, the case may be 
determined by the Conference in full session (Dis- 
cipline, 1908, IT 242, §2). 

Committees, Quarterly Conference. — (Find each 
Quarterly Conference committee treated under its 
proper heading and in its relative grouping.) 

Conference. — The term seems to have been first 
applied to a meeting held by six preachers in the 
Foundry, London, which began June 25, 1744, 
and continued in session five days, which meeting 
Mr. Wesley named "The Conference/' a term ever 
since employed by Methodist bodies throughout 
the world. 

Conference, Annual. — Is composed of not less 
than twenty-five effective preachers, with those 
on trial, presided over by a bishop, or by a mem- 
ber of the Conference appointed by the bishop; 
or, when no such appointment has been made, by 
an elder elected by the Conference, in the absence 
of a bishop, who (with the aid of the district 
superintendents, or otherwise) stations the preach- 
ers; annual reports are presented by district su- 
perintendents, pastors, boards, and committees; 
deacons and elders are elected and ordained, and 
much other Conference business transacted. There 
are now one hundred and thirty-three Annual Con- 
ferences, of which one hundred and fourteen are 
domestic and nineteen foreign, with twelve Mission 
Conferences, in the world, and many Missions not 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 27 

yet organized into Conferences, belonging to the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Conference Bar. — The designated space on the 
floor of building in which a Conference holds its 
sessions set apart or reserved for use of its mem- 
bers during business sessions is known as the Bar 
of the Conference. 

Conference, Christmas. — This Conference, so 
known, was held at Baltimore, Maryland, Decem- 
ber 24, 1784, and continued in session until the 
second of January following; and is celebrated as 
the Conference at which the Methodist Episcopal 
Church was formally organized. At that time 
there were 83 ministers and 14,986 members. For 
a more complete history of the organization see 
article on Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Conference Claimants, — They are the superan- 
nuated preachers, their wives, widows, and chil- 
dren under sixteen years of age, and such super- 
numerary preachers as, by vote of the Annual 
Conference, are made Conference claimants (Dis- 
cipline, 1908, 1f 46, § 6; 1fl[ 176, 177). 

Conference Claimants, General Conference Board 
of. — This board was created at the General Con- 
ference of 1908, and is composed of seven ministers 
and seven laymen, with the addition of one bishop 
and corresponding secretary, who are elected for a 
term of four years, but may be reelected b}^ the 
General Conference. The work of this board is to 
increase the revenues for the benefit of Conference 
claimants by building up a connectional fund in 
their interest. The office of the board is in 
Chicago, Illinois (Discipline, 1908, ^ 423-427). 

Conferences, Colored. — There are nineteen Afri- 
can, or colored, Conferences within the United States, 
belonging to the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Their names, which indicate their location, are At- 
lanta, Central Alabama, Central Missouri, Delaware, 



28 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

East Tennessee, Florida, Lexington, Lincoln, Little 
Rock, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Sa- 
vannah, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Upper 
Mississippi, Washington, West Texas. In addition 
to these, in Africa are the Liberia Annual Confer- 
ence, and East Central Africa and West Central 
Africa Mission Conferences. 

Conference, District. — A District Conference is 
composed of the preachers — traveling and local — 
exhorters, district stewards within the district, 
together with one Sunday school superintendent, 
one president of an Epworth League chapter, one 
president of the Methodist Brotherhood, one presi- 
dent of a Ladies' Aid Society, and one class leader 
from each pastoral charge in the district. This 
Conference may meet once or twice in each year, 
and shall be presided over by a bishop if present, 
and in the absence of a bishop the district superin- 
tendent; and if neither be present, one selected by 
vote of Conference shall preside, when business of 
a routine character may be transacted, according 
to provisions of the Discipline. A record of the 
proceedings shall be kept, a copy of which shall be 
sent to the ensuing Annual Conference (Discipline, 
1908, If 91). 

Conference Districts, General. — There are fifteen 
General Conference districts at this time, into 
which the one hundred and thirty-three Annual 
Conferences are distributed. The chief purpose 
of these grand district divisions is administrative, 
that in making up the membership of the various 
General Conference boards and committees the 
whole Church, geographically, may secure some 
proper representation. 

Conference, Ecumenical. — A World Conference of 
Methodist bodies, fraternal and advisory, com- 
posed of five hundred delegates, three hundred 
selected from the western and two hundred se- 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 29 

lected from the eastern section. The session of 
1911 is to be held on the American continent. 

Conference, General. — This Conference has, under 
the limitations of the Constitution, supreme legis- 
lative, judicial, and executive powers. Its mem- 
bership is composed of ministerial and lay delegates 
in equal number, chosen from the Annual and Lay 
Electoral Conferences on the basis of Conference 
membership, and now appioximates eight hundred. 
It meets once in four years, and at the place 
chosen by the preceding General Conference or by 
the commission appointed by the preceding Gen- 
eral Conference, beginning its sessions on the first 
Wednesday in the month of May, and continuing 
in session about four weeks. (Note. — If proposed 
constitutional change is made, the time will be 
"first secular day" in the month of May, instead of 
first Wednesday.) 

Conference, General, Standing Committees. — 
These are on Episcopacy, Judiciary, Itinerancy, 
Boundaries, Revision, Temporal Economy, State 
of the Church, Temperance and Prohibition, Book 
Concern, Foreign Missions, Home Missions and 
Church Extension, Education, Freedmen, Sunday 
Schools, Conference Claimants, Epworth League, 
and Deaconess Work. Through these committees 
is practically done much of the work of the Gen- 
eral Conference. 

Conference, Inter-Church, on Federation.— The 
General Conference of 1908 heartily approved of 
the establishment of a Federal Council of the 
Churches of Christ in America, in order to bring 
the Christian bodies of x\merica into harmonious 
service for Christ in the world (Discipline, 1908, 
Appendix, If 56). 

Conference, Judicial. — A Court of Appeals, made 
up of not less than eleven nor more than fifteen 
Triers of Appeals, chosen from three nearby Annual 



30 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

Conferences, presided over by a bishop, to which 
a convicted member of an Annual Conference may- 
appeal his case for review. A Judicial Conference, 
though differently formed, may also try an accused 
bishop (Discipline, 1908, If If 273-276). 

Conference, Lay Electoral. — Is composed of lay- 
men, one from each pastoral charge, chosen by the 
lay members of the charge, elected by ballot, to 
assemble at the seat of the Annual Conference on 
the Friday of the session next preceding the Gen- 
eral Conference, for the purpose of electing dele- 
gates and reserves to the General Conference and 
voting on proposed constitutional changes (Dis- 
cipline, 1908, If 39). 

Conference, Mission. — A Mission Conference is 
constituted by the General Conference, and may 
exercise the powers of an Annual Conference, 
subject to the approval of the presiding bishop, 
share in the profits of the Book Concern, but is 
not represented in the General Conference by dele- 
gates, nor can its members vote on constitutional 
changes (Discipline, 1908, If 90). 

Conference Relations, Committee on. — A stand- 
ing committee of an Annual Conference, before 
which may appear a candidate for admission on 
trial, and into full membership, that he may give 
satisfactory evidence of fitness for the work of the 
ministry, and with which (if not with the secretary 
of the Conference) may be deposited written state- 
ments, first, that he is not in debt so as to be 
embarrassed in the work of the ministry; and, 
second, that he will wholly abstain from the use 
of tobacco. The case of a member of Conference 
may also be referred to this committee to be 
inquired into and reported back to the Conference. 
Ministers from other Churches proposing to come 
to this Church and ministry shall also appear 
before the Committee on Conference Relations, 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 31 

and deposit similar statements. The appointment 
of this committee is optional with the Conference 
(Discipline, 1908, If 148). 

Conference, Quarterly. — Is composed of all the 
traveling preachers belonging to the charge, local 
preachers, exhorters, stewards, and class leaders, 
together with trustees of church and parsonage 
property, the first superintendents of the Sunday 
schools, the presidents of the Epworth League 
chapters, the superintendents of the Junior 
Leagues, the presidents of the chapters of the 
Methodist Brotherhood, the presidents of the 
Ladies' Aid Societies, and deaconesses employed 
within the charge; provided, these are members 
of the Church, and approved by the Quarterly 
Conference for membership therein. It is called 
together by the district superintendent four times 
in the Conference year (the second and third 
Quarterly Conferences, however, may be com- 
bined in one or omitted entirely), for the purpose 
of receiving reports, electing local church boards, 
fixing the salary of pastor, and for the transaction 
of such other business of a local character as comes 
within its province (Discipline, 1908, If 98). 

Conference Year. — The current Conference year 
has its commencement at the close of the Con- 
ference, when the appointments are announced, 
and terminates at the close of the next session 
following (Bishop Waugh). 

Confession of Faith. — This term is applied by 
many ecclesiastical bodies to the articles of their 
religious belief, arranged in systematic order. The 
Twenty-five Articles and the General Rules con- 
stitute what might be termed the Confession of 
Faith in the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Congregational Meeting. — A meeting of the mem- 
bers of the Church, usually of both sexes, and not 
under twenty-one years of age, for the performance 



32 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

of official duties. This meeting is not a distinctive 
feature of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but in 
some States held in conformity with legal re- 
quirements of charter, for the purpose, for ex- 
ample, of electing a board of trustees for the local 
church, and the discharge of such other duties 
as may come within the province of charter. 

Consecration. — By " consecration" is meant the 
setting apart and dedicating, by appropriate cere- 
mony, persons or things to sacred use or office. 
Bishops and deaconesses are consecrated, and the 
bread and wine for the sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper. 

Consolidation of Charges. — A bishop may, when 
he judges it necessary, unite two or more pastoral 
charges for Quarterly Conference purposes, with- 
out affecting their separate financial interests or 
pastoral relations (Discipline, 1908, ^ 198). 

Consolidation of Churches. — The bishops have 
full power under the law and usages of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church to consolidate churches 
and appoint one pastor for the united congrega- 
tion (Discipline, 1908, Appendix, ^f 44; General 
Conference Journal, 1900, p. 422). 

Constitution. — The new Constitution as adopted 
by the General Conference of 1900, and approved 
by three fourths of the members of the Annual 
Conferences in 1901, recognizes the Articles of 
Religion, General Rules, and Articles of Organi- 
zation and Government as the fundamental law 
or Constitution of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
(Discipline, 1908, Preamble, p. 23). 

Conversion. — The act of turning or of being 
turned from a sinful state or course to the love 
and service of God; a spiritual change brought 
about under the awakening influence of the Holy 
Spirit, leading to repentance of sin and the exer- 
cise of faith in Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour, 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 33 

resulting in regeneration or a change of heart. 
Such a change is called conversion. 

Conviction. — The operation of the Holy Spirit 
upon the soul of an unsaved person, whereby he 
is convinced of sin and awakened to a sense of 
guilt. Conviction is neither repentance nor con- 
version, but must precede such experiences and 
should lead thereunto. 

Corner Stone Laying. — A service consisting of 
prayer, hymns, Scripture lessons, address or ser- 
mon, with offering; after which is deposited in the 
stone a tin or copper box, containing a copy of 
the Bible, Methodist Hymnal, Discipline, Church 
periodicals, names of pastor, trustees, building 
committee, with such other articles as may be 
agreed upon. The stone containing the box is 
then placed in permanent position by the offici- 
ating minister, assisted by the builder, and the 
service closes with the benediction. The present 
form of service for laying the corner stone of a 
church was provided by the General Conference 
of 1864. 

Corporation. — In the Methodist Episcopal Church 
a corporation is a person or persons recognized and 
authorized by the State as a body to hold property 
for the use of the Church, and to be used according 
to acts of incorporation; whether these be boards 
of trustees of the local church, or boards of mana- 
gers of the great benevolent and educational 
organizations of the Church. Different legal forms 
and processes of incorporation prevail in different 
States in the Union. 

Corresponding Secretaries. — The chief executive 
officers of the various benevolent boards and so- 
cieties of the Church, elected by the General 
Conference, working under direction of and in 
cooperation with the boards of managers and 
general committees of these organizations. 



34 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

Courses of Study. — For license to preach, for 
local preachers, and for orders as local preachers, 
for reception on trial in an Annual Conference, 
the Conference course extending through four 
years, and for deaconesses, are prescribed by the 
bishops, and are outlined in Appendix to the 
Discipline. 

Cradle Roll. — The name given to a department 
in the Sunday school. This department has a 
superintendent who calls upon parents of an 
infant or young child, and by their permission 
enrolls it as a member of the school. Record of 
birth is made and a birthday card or remembrance 
of some kind is usually forwarded on anniver- 
saries of the same, and when three years old is 
admitted to the "Beginners' Department/' and 
so is kept in touch with the school from infancy, 
forming the connecting link between the home 
and the Sunday school, and the stepping-stone 
thereto. 

Credentials. — A preacher's credentials are his 
parchments — his ordination papers. 

Custodian of Deeds. — The custodian of deeds is 
the person appointed by the Quarterly Conference 
to have charge of deeds and all other legal 
documents affecting church property of the 
charge. 

Deacon. — The first of two ministerial orders. A 
person is constituted a deacon by Annual Confer- 
ence election and the laying on of the hands of a 
bishop, after ordination vows have been taken 
and all other Disciplinary requirements met by 
the candidate. 

Deaconess. — A woman, unmarried, past twenty- 
three years of age, having completed the prescribed 
Course of Study, and two years probationary 
service; being in good health and recommended 
by the Conference Deaconess Board; who re- 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 35 

ceives consecration as a deaconess according to 
the Order of Service prescribed by the Discipline, 
and usually at the hand of a bishop during the 
session of an Annual Conference. Her work is 
charitable, benevolent, and evangelistic. The 
vows of consecration do not bind for life (Disci- 
pline, 1908, If 219). 

Deaconess Board, General. — This board is com- 
posed of eleven members, two of whom shall be 
general superintendents, to be named by the Board 
of Bishops; the other nine are elected by the 
General Conference quadrennially, on nomination 
of the bishops, and shall hold office until their 
successors are elected. The board shall have 
general supervision of all deaconess work through- 
out the Church, and shall approve general rules 
for the government of Deaconess Homes and other 
deaconess institutions, and also rules for the 
government of all deaconesses, however employed 
(Discipline, 1908, If 214). 

Deaconess Board, Conference. — Is composed of 
nine members, at least three of w T hom shall be 
women, appointed by the Conference, having 
authority to license deaconesses, transfer dea- 
conesses on recommendation of local boards or 
governing bodies of deaconess institutions, and it 
shall encourage the establishment and support of 
deaconess institutions within the Conference, and 
have general supervision of deaconess institutions 
and work within the Conference under General 
Board, and make an annual report to the Annual 
Conference and General Board of work being 
done (Discipline, 1908, If 218). 

Deaconess Garb. — A distinctive garb is to be 
worn by deaconesses, the same to be adopted by 
the General Deaconess Board, and secured by 
legal enactment, for their designation and as a 
protection to themselves and their office. No 



36 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

other person is authorized by the Church to wear 
a distinctive garb. 

Deaconess Institutions. — Since Disciplinary pro- 
vision was made for this kind of Christian work by 
the General Conference of 1888, deaconess institu- 
tions, varied and numerous, have been established, 
both in the homeland and in foreign countries. 
They are operated under supervision of Deaconess 
Boards and the Woman's Home Missionary So- 
ciety, and are known as Bible, evangelistic, and 
nurse-training schools, Deaconess Homes, mis- 
sionary training schools, hospitals, sanitariums, old 
people's homes, orphanages, boys' and girls' 
schools, rest homes, homes for invalid children, 
etc. Untold good is being accomplished by these 
institutions and the multitude of Christian workers 
connected therewith. 

Debt. — A debt is an obligation, financial or other- 
wise. For contracting debt he is unable to dis- 
charge a member of an Annual Conference may be 
brought to trial, and if it be found that he has 
behaved dishonestly, or contracted debts without 
a probability of paying them, he may be deposed 
from the ministry and expelled from the Church. 

Dedication. — Setting apart by solemn and ap- 
propriate services, for the worship of Almighty 
God, the building erected for such purpose. The 
form of service to be used for dedication of a 
church is found in 1f 472 of Discipline of 1908. 

Deeds. — These are instruments of writing by 
which legal title to property is secured. Deeds to 
church property are made to boards of trustees 
and their successors in office, to hold in trust for 
the use of the ministry and membership of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, according to pro- 
visions of Discipline. 

Delegate. — A minister or layman chosen by 
Annual or Lay Electoral Conference, as the repre- 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 37 

sentative to the General Conference. To him is 
delegated authority to represent and act for his 
constituents in matters of church legislation, 
either with or without instruction. 

Deportment at Conference. — This refers to pro- 
prieties of conduct, which should comport with 
the occasion. Deportment at such gatherings has 
been considered of sufficient importance to call 
forth some instructions from the Church regarding 
it. Hence ministers and laymen are admonished 
by authority of the Church, while attending 
the sessions of Conference, to consider themselves 
as being in the immediate presence of God, and, 
therefore, to conduct themselves with proper 
decorum. 

Depravity, — A theological term employed to ex- 
press the vitiated moral character of man after the 
sin of Adam; in that he forfeited the pure and holy 
character in which he was originally created, and 
is now very far removed from original righteous- 
ness; is naturally inclined to evil, and is without 
power within himself to regain what has been 
lost, or to do anything really good and acceptable 
to God. "Depravity is total in the sense that it 
includes every member of the race/ 7 but the moral 
sense in the individual man has not been so wholly 
destroyed as to render him irresponsible for his 
conduct and incapable of obedience to God and 
the acceptance of the means provided whereby he 
may regain in Christ what has been lost in Adam. 

Discipline, Book of. — The name of a small book 
which contains the Constitution, that is, Articles 
of Religion, General Rules, and Articles of Organi- 
zation and Government; legislative enactments for 
the government and direction of all administrative 
church boards, general and local; for all Confer- 
ences, societies, institutions, and executive officers; 
along with Conference boundaries, the Ritual, 



38 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

Order of Worship, the rights and privileges of 
ministers and lay members, with rules for their 
conduct; and by which book the trial of a minister 
or member may be conducted, and all difficulties 
and disputes adjusted where the polity of the 
Church is involved. 

Dissension. — An expressed difference of opinion 
causing contention, strife, and discord. Any mem- 
ber of the Church who speaks against the doctrines, 
discipline, methods, and usages of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in a way likely to produce strife 
or division is guilty of this offense. Such a person 
is to be admonished by his pastor, and if he per- 
sist in such pernicious practice, he is to be brought 
to trial and expelled. 

District Superintendent. — An elder 1 appointed by 
a bishop to supervise the work of an Annual Con- 
ference district. His appointment is made for one 
year, but he may be reappointed to the same 
district annually for six consecutive years. In 
Missions and Mission Conferences he may be ap- 
pointed for a longer period. His work is to travel 
through his district, ordinarily four times during 
the year; preach, counsel, advise, preside in 
District and Quarterly Conferences, fill vacancies, 
investigate complaints against ministers, and en- 
force the Discipline under limitations. To the 
Annual Conference he is each year to make a full 
report of the work done, and the condition of the 
work on his district. 

Divorce. — "No divorce, except for adultery, shall 
be regarded by the Church as lawful; and no min- 
ister shall solemnize marriage in any case where 
there is a divorced wife or husband living; but 
this rule shall not be applied to the innocent party 



J The General Conference of 1904 (see Journal, page 520) said, "A 
preacher on trial could be appointed presiding elder." 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 39 

to a divorce for the cause of adultery, nor to di- 
vorced parties seeking to be reunited in marriage" 
(Discipline, 1908, If 67). 

Doctrines. — The doctrines as held by all Meth- 
odists have been so admirably expressed by Bishop 
John H. Vincent, in a series of ten articles, and in 
such condensed form, that they are here given in 
full as a definition to this subject: "1. 1 believe that 
all men are sinners. 2. I believe that God the 
Father loves all men and hates all sin. 3. I believe 
that Jesus Christ died for all men to make possible 
their salvation from sin, and to make sure the 
salvation of all who believe in him. 4. I believe 
the Holy Spirit is given to all men to enlighten 
and to incline them to repent of their sins and 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 5. I believe that 
all who repent of their sins and believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ receive the forgiveness of sins. This 
is justification. 6. I believe that all who receive 
the forgiveness of sin are at the same time made 
new creatures in Christ Jesus. This is regenera- 
tion. 7. I believe that all who are made new 
creatures in Christ Jesus are adopted as the chil- 
dren of God. This is adoption. 8. I believe that 
all who are accepted as the children of God receive 
the inward assurance of the Holy Spirit to that 
fact. This is the witness of the Spirit. 9. I believe 
that all who truly desire and seek it may love God 
with all their heart and soul, min'd and strength, 
and their neighbors as themselves. This is entire 
sanctification. 10. I believe that all who persevere 
to the end, and only those, shall be saved in heaven 
forever' ' (New International Encyclopedia, vol. 
xiii, p. 383). 

Doxology. — A hymn, psalm, or prayer, sung or 
spoken in praise to God. The Gloria Patri, be- 
ginning, " Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Ghost," is a minor doxology. The 



40 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

Gloria in Excelsis, beginning, " Glory be to God 
on high/' is a major doxology, and is used, either 
to be sung or spoken, in concluding the sacrament 
of the Lord's Supper. Long-meter and other dox- 
ologies are to be sung in concluding public worship. 
In the earlier Books of Discipline this direction was 
given: "Let a doxology be sung at the conclusion 
of each service, and the apostolic benediction be 
invariably used in dismissing the congregation/' 
In the present Order of Worship full authority 
and direction for the use of a doxology and the 
apostolic benediction (2 Cor. 13. 14) is given for 
concluding the public service. 

Education. — The spirit of Methodism had its 
birth in a college — among the students at Oxford. 
John Wesley was a broadly educated, a matured 
Christian scholar. The Methodist Episcopal Church 
has from the beginning stood for Christian schools, 
and for the higher education, especially of those 
who would enter its ministry. Under its owner- 
ship and patronage are now many schools of all 
grades situated in different parts of the United 
States and in foreign countries, with multitudes of 
students crowding their halls. While candidates 
for the ministry are not of necessity required, by 
the General Conference, to be college graduates, 
yet all such are encouraged by it to seek the best 
possible educational equipment for the work. The 
ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church is 
coming more and more to be an educated ministry. 

Education, Board of. — The Board of Education 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized 
in 1868 for the promotion of the educational work 
of the Church, and especially for the purpose of 
assisting needy and meritorious young men pre- 
paring for the ministry and for missionary work. 
The financial aid so given, being in the nature of a 
loan on easy terms of payment, comes from collec- 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 41 

tions lifted from congregations throughout the 
Church, and from Sunday schools on Children's 
Day, and from other sources, contributed for the 
cause of education and to be administered by the 
board. The board consists of thirty-six members: 
three bishops, fifteen other ministers, and eighteen 
laymen; in addition, a corresponding secretary. 
Office in New York city. 

Educational Institutions Classified. — Those under 
the patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
are classified as primary schools, secondary schools, 
colleges, universities, and schools of theology. 

Educational Interests, Local, — Each Annual Con- 
ference, where conditions are favorable, and the 
needs of the people require it, may have under its 
supervision one or more secondary schools — acad- 
emies, seminaries, or collegiate institutes. The 
Conference may aid such institutions financially, 
and needy students therein preparing to work 
under the supervision of the Church (Discipline, 
I908,1f4ll, §§3-5). 

Education, Quarterly Conference Committee, — 
This committee shall aid the pastor in stimulating 
interest in higher education among the youth of 
the charge, by distributing catalogues and other 
literature from the various educational institu- 
tions of the Church; and shall seek to increase 
attendance at the same. The committee shall 
consist of the pastor, who is chairman, and not 
less than three nor more than seven other persons 
(Discipline, 1908,11413). 

Elder. — The second of two ministerial orders, the 
other being deacon. An elder is constituted by 
Annual Conference election and the laying on of 
the hands of a bishop and some of the elders 
present, after ordination vows have been taken 
and all other Disciplinary requirements met by 
the candidate. Complete ordination. 



42 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

Enabling Acts. — Provisions of the General Con- 
ference which make possible the organization of 
Annual or Mission Conferences, as specified in the 
Book of Discipline, during the interim of the 
General Conference, by meeting all required con- 
ditions (Discipline, 1908, 1f1f 457, 458). 

Episcopacy. — See Bishops. 

Episcopal. — A form of church government in 
which superintendents or bishops oversee or rule. 
In the Methodist Episcopal Church the functions 
and powers of the episcopacy are prescribed and 
directed by the General Conference, to which body 
bishops are amenable. In the matter of stationing 
the preachers the episcopacy is invested with full 
power. 

Episcopal Address. — A statement made to each 
General Conference by the Board of Bishops. In 
it is presented a summary of work done and 
advancement made by the Church during the 
preceding quadrennium. Growth in membership 
is noted, and progress along benevolent and edu- 
cational lines, along with suggestions for Disci- 
plinary changes, and legislation, in their opinion, 
necessary for the Church's advancement. In 
many respects this address resembles the address 
or message of the President to Congress or of 
governors to State Legislatures. 

Episcopal Fund. — A fund provided for the sup- 
port of the bishops, and comes under the head of 
and is included in ministerial support. It is 
created by each pastoral charge, throughout the 
entire connection, raising and contributing a 
definite sum for this specific purpose. 

Ep worth. — The name of a small town situated in 
Lincolnshire, England. In the rectory of this town 
were born and carefully reared by their mother, 
Mrs. Susannah Wesley, John and Charles Wesley, 
who, under God, were the founders of Methodism. 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 43 

Epworth Herald. — The organ of the Epworth 
League. It is a twenty-four-page weekly, pub- 
lished at Chicago, Illinois. 

Epworth League. — The young people's society of 
the Church, which has as its chief object the pro- 
motion of intelligent and vital piety among the 
young members and friends of the Church, and 
their training in works of mercy and help. Its 
motto is, "Look Up, Lift Up/' The Epworth 
League was organized in Cleveland, Ohio, May 15, 
1889; since then local Chapters, Senior and Junior, 
have been organized in nearly every congregation 
throughout the denomination. Its general man- 
agement is invested in a Board of Control, consist- 
ing of a bishop, as president, and one member from 
each General Conference district, with correspond- 
ing secretary and editor of Epworth Herald as 
advisory members. General office is in Chicago, 
Illinois. 

Estimating Pastor's Salary, Committee on. — Is 
elected by the Quarterly Conference of each charge, 
consisting of three or more members of the Church, 
who shall, after conferring with the minister or 
ministers stationed among them, make an estimate 
of the amount necessary to furnish a comfortable 
support to each, considering his family; which 
estimate shall be subject to Quarterly Conference 
action (Discipline, 1908, If 307). 

Estimating for Conference Claimants, Committee 
on. — The Committee on Estimating Pastor's Salary 
is also this committee, and by it shall be estimated 
the amount necessary to provide a comfortable 
support for each Conference claimant related to 
the pastoral charge; which estimate must be ap- 
proved by the Quarterly Conference and sent to 
the secretary of the Annual Conference for the 
information of the Board of Conference Stewards 
(Discipline, 1908, If 315, § 1). 



44 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

Eucharist. — A feast of joy and thanksgiving. The 
term was early applied to the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper, and so named because our Lord, in 
the institution of it, gave thanks. 

Evangelist, Conference. — A member of an Annual 
Conference who receives his appointment from a 
bishop as Conference evangelist, which appoint- 
ment, however, can only be made by request of 
two thirds of the members of an Annual Confer- 
ence, and so voting. He is, being so appointed, to 
do evangelistic work within his own Conference 
on charges where invited by pastors, or in neg- 
lected territory within a district when invited by 
a superintendent. No pastor shall engage an 
evangelist not so appointed without the written 
consent of his district superintendent (Discipline, 
1908, THf 174, 194, §§ 3,4). 

Evangelistic Commission. — This commission, as 
authorized by the General Conference of 1908, is 
composed of five bishops and an advisory board 
of twenty-five members, whose duty is to "pro- 
mote evangelism in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. It shall utilize and develop, not supplant, 
the regular evangelistic forces within the Church, 
and shall foster the highest evangelistic ideals and 
wisest methods, so as to reach all fields and classes 
to which the Church has an evangelistic mission." 

Examiners, Board of. — The Annual Conference 
Board of Examiners is appointed by the presiding 
bishop, and is composed of not less than eight nor 
more than twenty members, to be selected from 
among those ministers who have special qualifica- 
tion for the work. All candidates for admission on 
trial, all undergraduates in an Annual Conference, 
and all local preachers pursuing a course of study 
with a view to ordination, are referred to this 
board. Examinations are usually held at the seat 
of the Conference on the day preceding the open- 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 45 

ing session, but midyear and other examinations 
may be held during the year (Discipline, 1908, 
Appendix, pp. 490, 491). 

Exhorter. — A lay member who, by recommen- 
dation of his class or leaders and stewards' meet- 
ing, is given license signed by his pastor, which 
authorizes him to hold meetings for prayer and 
exhortation, under direction of the pastor, the 
said license being annually renewed by the fourth 
Quarterly Conference, after passage of his char- 
acter, the renewal being signed by the president 
thereof. 

Experience. — A term used to denote the religious 
condition through which a Christian passes, and 
naturally connects itself with conviction, conver- 
sion, and growth in grace. When one speaks of 
these spiritual conditions in meetings for testimony 
and elsewhere he is said to tell his experience. 

Fall of Man. — A phrase used to express an act 
of disobedience toward God by our first parents. 
In the record of that act is involved the command, 
temptation, disobedience, and expulsion from para- 
dise. In the depravity of human nature is seen 
the effects of the fall, in evidence in child life and 
adult life in all parts of the world, in the tendency 
to evil and the practice of it. To redeem and 
restore human nature a Saviour has been given in 
the person of the Son of God. 

Family Worship. — By family worship is com- 
monly meant the performance of acts of devotion, 
such as the reading of the Scriptures and the offer- 
ing of prayer at stated times in the home by the 
assembled family, the head of the household or 
some other person leading. The duty of such 
religious practice is not only set forth in the 
General Rules of the Church, and implied in the 
Scriptures, but is believed to inhere in the very 
nature and constitution of the family. 



46 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

Fasting, or Abstinence. — By this rule of the 
Church is believed to be meant abstaining from 
food for spiritual benefit to such extent as may 
conduce to spirituality of life and be not injurious 
or detrimental to health, strength, and labor. 

Federation Commission. — This commission, ap- 
pointed by the Board of Bishops by authority of 
the General .Conference, has instructions to invite 
the Evangelical Association, the United Brethren, 
and such other branches of Methodism as are be- 
lieved to be sympathetic, to confer through sim- 
ilar commissions concerning federation or organic 
union as in the judgment of said Churches, respec- 
tively, may be most desirable, and report to the 
General Conference of 1912. Furthermore, the 
Methodist Episcopal Church most cordially invites 
the Methodist Protestant Church to unite with the 
Methodist Episcopal Church for the conservation 
of spiritual energy and the increase of efficiency 
(Discipline, 1908, Appendix, J[1f 53, 55). 

Financial Plan. — The official board may direct 
that the stewards and trustees shall annually sub- 
mit to it the amount needed for support and cur- 
rent expenses of the church, which combined 
amounts it shall apportion among members and 
attendants as far as practicable; and should such 
combined financial system be adopted, the board 
shall elect a treasurer for the common fund. Such 
action shall make void provision of Discipline, 
under support of ministers, as relates to the finan- 
cial duties of the stewards elsewhere set forth in the 
Discipline. Where a combined plan is not adopted, 
then the stewards shall adopt a financial plan by 
which every member and attendant, as far as pos- 
sible, shall have the opportunity of regularly 
contributing each month, not grudgingly or of 
necessity, the sum pledged (Discipline, 1908, 
1fH 103,297-300). 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 47 

Foreign Missions, General Board. — (See Mission- 
ary Society.) The Board of Foreign Missions 
came into existence as successor to the Missionary- 
Society, so far as relates to foreign work, on Jan- 
uary 1, 1907. The objects of the board are religious 
and philanthropic, designed to diffuse more gen- 
erally the blessings of Christianity by establishing 
missions and educational institutions in foreign 
countries and providing for their support. Aux- 
iliary to the General Board are the Annual and 
District Conference Boards and the Quarterly 
Conference Committee. The Board of Managers 
is composed of the bishops, missionary bishops, 
ex officio; thirty-two traveling ministers and 
thirty-two laymen, elected by the General Con- 
ference. Office of board at 150 Fifth Avenue, 
New York. 

Foreign Missions, General Committee. — This com- 
mittee determines the fields to be occupied as 
foreign missions, makes estimates of the amounts 
needed to sustain the work, and makes appropria- 
tions for the work, limiting the same to the total 
income for the preceding year. It meets in the 
month of November in each year, and reports its 
proceedings to the General Conference, to which 
body it is amenable. The committee is composed 
of general superintendents, missionary bishops, 
corresponding secretary and first assistant, record- 
ing secretary, treasurer and assistant, two repre- 
sentatives — one lay and one ministerial from each 
General Conference district — and as many repre- 
sentatives from the Board of Managers as there are 
General Conference districts (Discipline, 1908, 
HH373,374). 

Foreign Missions, Conference Board. — The pur- 
pose of this board is to enhance the cause of foreign 
missions within the Conference. Through its pres- 
ident report is made to the Annual Conference of 



48 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

work done at its annual meeting and during the 
year. It shall also have charge of the Conference 
Anniversary of the Board of Foreign Missions, 
devoting an entire evening to the same. It is 
made up of district superintendents, district 
missionary secretaries, district Epworth League 
presidents, ex officio, one Sunday school superin- 
tendent, and one lay member from each district, 
to be elected by the Annual Conference on nomi- 
nation of the district superintendents; and by 
same nominations the Conference shall elect the 
officers of the board from among its members 
(Discipline, 1908, If 383). 

Foreign Missions, District Board. — This board 
shall meet at the call of the president, at least once 
in each year; it shall aid the pastors in presenting 
the cause of foreign missions within the district 
and arrange convention work. It is composed of the 
members from the District on Conference Board. 
The district superintendent shall be president, 
and the district missionary secretary shall be its 
secretary (Discipline, 1908, If 384). 

Foreign Missions, District Secretary, — To this 
office a member of an Annual Conference is ap- 
pointed, on nomination of the district superin- 
tendent, to serve without salary, whose duty it 
shall be to assist the district superintendent in 
carrying on the interests of foreign missions on 
the district by correspondence, the distribution of 
missionary literature in each charge, in the dis- 
tinctive work of the Young People's Department, 
and by otherwise cooperating with the General 
Board at New York (Discipline, 1908, If 385). 

Foreign Missions, Quarterly Conference Commit 
tee. — It shall aid the pastor in disseminating mis- 
sionary information, in preparing for the annual 
Foreign Missionary Day in the congregation, and 
in making a thorough canvass of the members of 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 49 

the churches and congregations in the interest of 
this cause. It shall consist of five or more persons, 
including one Sunday school superintendent and 
one Epworth League president, with the pastor as 
chairman (Discipline, 1908, H 386). 

Formulated Complaints. — Charges or allegations 
formally presented at a session of the Quarterly 
Conference against the official misconduct of a 
member thereof. For moral misconduct an official 
member shall be dealt with the same as a private 
member of the Church, he being answerable to the 
same tribunal. 

Freedmen's Aid Society. — Was organized in Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, in the year 1866, and sanctioned by 
the General Conference of 1868. It had for its 
purpose "the mental and moral elevation of the 
freedmen and others in the South"; was very suc- 
cessful in the establishment of schools and supply- 
ing Christian teachers. In the year 1888 the 
name was changed by the General Conference to 
"Freedmen's Aid and Southern Education So- 
ciety/' which made provision for the Christian 
education of both colored and white people in 
the same territory. At the General Conference of 
1908 the name was changed back to "Freedmen's 
Aid Society," and has for its work "the establish- 
ment and maintenance of institutions for Christian 
education among the colored people of the South- 
ern States and elsewhere"; hence its operations 
are now confined wholly to the colored people. 
The Courses of Study to be furnished "shall include 
such literary, professional, biblical, and industrial 
training as will tend to develop the highest Chris- 
tian character." The Society has, under the new 
order, twenty-four schools all among the colored 
people, with nearly nine thousand students. The 
twenty-two other schools under former manage- 
ment, in which there are nearly four thousand 



50 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

students/ have been transferred to the Board of 
Education for the use of white people. 

Freedmen's Aid Society, Board of Managers. — Is 
composed of three bishops, twelve ministers, and 
twelve laymen, elected quadrennially by the Gen- 
eral Conference. It is invested with "such powers 
and prerogatives as are needed to conduct the 
work of the Society," in cooperation with the 
General Committee. General office in Cincinnati, 
Ohio (Discipline, 1908, If 429). 

Freedmen's Aid Society, General Committee. — It 
shall be the duty of this committee to meet an- 
nually in the month of November, to receive and 
consider the annual report of the Board of Mana- 
gers, to designate what institutions shall receive 
aid for the ensuing year and the amount of help 
to be given, to determine the total amount to be 
expended in support of schools and for expenses, 
to fix the apportionments to the Annual Confer- 
ences to be raised for use of board, and to counsel 
and direct the board in the general administration 
of its affairs. The committee is composed of the 
bishops, corresponding secretaries, treasurer, and 
recording secretary of the Board of Managers, who 
shall be ex officio secretary of the General Com- 
mittee, two representatives of each General Con- 
ference district elected by the General Conference 
to the General Committee on Foreign Missions, 
and an equal number of representatives to be 
selected by the Board of Managers from its own 
body (Discipline, 1908, If 431). 

Freedmen's Aid Society, Quarterly Conference 
Committee. — Appointed by the fourth Quarterly 
Conference of each charge, consisting of from 



1 During the years 1907-8 the work of the Society was carried on by 
the Board of Education, Freedmen's Aid, and Sunday Schools, as con- 
solidated by a Commission on Consolidation appointed by the General 
Conference. 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 51 

three to nine members, with the pastor as chair- 
man; whose duty it shall be to aid in carrying 
into effect provisions of Discipline for support of 
this cause, so that the amount asked for from 
each charge each year may be secured. 

General Superintendents. — See Bishops. 

Government, Church. — The government of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church is by its constitution, 
under the divisions of Articles of Religion, General 
Rules, and Articles of Organization and Govern- 
ment. The several boards, pastoral charges, Quar- 
terly Conferences, Annual Conferences, and the 
General Conference are the administrative and 
legislative bodies of the Church, acting under 
constitutional authority. 

Government, Civil. — So far as respects civil af- 
fairs, the Methodist Episcopal Church believes it 
the duty of Christians, and especially of Christian 
ministers, to be subject to the supreme authority 
of the country where they may at the time reside, 
and to use all laudable means to enjoin obedience 
to the powers that be (Discipline, 1908, footnote, 
p. 31). 

Grace. — May be defined to express the favor of 
God to man, as seen in the unmerited blessings 
bestowed upon him, the protection given, and 
more particularly as seen in the free gift of his Son 
for man's salvation from sin and death. The word 
also applies to a divine influence exerted within 
the human heart by the Holy Spirit, intended to 
bring conviction, leading to regeneration and en- 
tire sanctification. This grace while freely offered 
to all is not irresistible, hence may be accepted or 
rejected by the individual. To accept means life, 
to reject means death. 

Haus und Herd. — A German monthly magazine, 
published in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the interest of 
young and old. 



52 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

Heresy. — An expressed doctrinal view out of 
harmony with the established tenets of a religious 
system; hence a bishop or other Methodist min- 
ister teaching doctrines not agreeing with the 
Articles of Religion and other recognized stand- 
ards, as held by the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
is guilty of heresy. For such offense he may be 
expelled, be he minister or layman. 

Historical Society, — Each Annual Conference is 
requested by the General Conference to organize 
a society to be known by this name, whose busi- 
ness it shall be to collect historical facts, docu- 
ments, relics, and reminiscences which may be 
of historical value, and provide a depository for 
such accumulation. 

Holy Club. — The name given to a college club 
at Oxford, England, organized by Charles Wesley 
among the students of that institution, of which 
his brother John, and about a dozen others, were 
members. They were banded together for the 
study of the Greek New Testament and other 
ancient classics; for the purpose of doing sys- 
tematic religious work in the prisons and among 
the sick of the community; and personally to 
conform to rigid religious rules and practices, 
economizing the very moments of time for the 
performances of such duties, all to the glory of 
God. Hence it was that they came to be called 
"Holy Club" and "Methodists" by the other 
students. 

Holy Communion. — Another name for the sac- 
rament of the Lord's Supper. 

Home Department. — A department of the Sun- 
day school with a superintendent and visitors, 
under the supervision of the main school, which 
aims to extend the benefits of the school to all 
persons who for any reason cannot attend the 
regular sessions. Among these are aged, invalids, 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 53 

deaf, blind, nurses, physicians, policemen, soldiers, 
Bailors, railroad and street car men, telegraphers, 
telephoners, messenger boys, hotel clerks and 
other employees, drug clerks, fire department men, 
commercial travelers, mothers, servants, and many 
others. Supplies from the publishing house are 
furnished, with record and offering envelope, by 
the visitor quarterly to each member who has 
promised to devote at least one half hour each 
week to the study of the lesson for the week. 

Home Missions and Church Extension, Board of. 
— This board came into active service January 1, 
1907, and is the direct successor to the Missionary 
Society (so far as home missionary work was done 
by that Society) and to the Church Extension 
Society. Its work is the prosecution of missionary 
and church extension operations in the United 
States, Territories, and insular possessions, except 
the Philippine Islands, and is subject to General 
Conference control. The board is composed of 
thirty-two ministers and thirty-five laymen, in- 
cluding the officers. The office of the board is in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (See Missionary So- 
ciety, and Church Extension Society.) This com- 
bination was made by the General Conference 
Commission on Consolidation (Discipline, 1908, 
f393). 

Home Missions and Church Extension, General 
Committee. — This committee meets annually in 
the month of November; makes apportionments 
to Annual and Mission Conferences and Missions; 
fixes the amounts to be appropriated for home 
missions and church extension in each Annual and 
Mission Conference and Mission for the year fol- 
lowing; provides for the contingent fund of home 
missions, and an emergency fund for church ex- 
tension purposes; and shall make a careful study 
of and provide for all fields coming under its 



54 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

supervision. It shall also have authority to 
counsel and direct the board in the legal adminis- 
tration of trusts committed to its care, and make 
changes in the membership of the board. For 
composition of this committee, and further work, 
see Discipline, 1908, Iffl 391, 392. 

Home Missions and Church Extension, Confer- 
ence Board. — Is auxiliary to the General Board at 
Philadelphia, and under its direction has charge 
of the interests of home missions and church ex- 
tension within the Conference. It shall distribute 
the apportionments among the districts and pas- 
toral charges, as laid upon the Conference. It 
shall submit to each Annual Conference a report 
of its transactions for the year preceding. The 
board is composed of an equal number of min- 
isters and laymen, elected by the Conference on 
nomination of the presiding bishop; the district 
superintendents shall be ex officio members, who 
shall be a committee to distribute home mission 
funds at the disposal of the Conference, subject 
to approval of presiding bishop and Conference 
(Discipline, 1908, If 396). 

Home Missions and Church Extension, Quarterly 
Conference Committee, — The purpose and work 
of this committee is to aid the pastor in carrying 
into effect the provisions of the Discipline and 
the plans of the General Board, for the support of 
this cause, and, if possible, secure a contribution 
from each member of the church and congregation 
for home missions and church extension work 
(Discipline, 1908, Iffl 400, 401). 

Hospitals, Quarterly Conference Committee on. — 
In the absence of official instructions it is safe to 
assume that it shall be the duty of this committee 
to take special interest in the hospitals of the 
Church, aiding them in all proper ways by en- 
couraging the sending from each pastoral charge 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 55 

donations in money and provisions for their sup- 
port, and also in directing to these institutions 
those who may have need of hospital treatment. 

Incorporation. — A legally constituted body for 
the transaction of business. The several Annual 
Conferences are instructed by the Church to 
become bodies corporate, wherever practical, under 
the authority of the laws of the States and Terri- 
tories within whose bounds they are located. 

Insolvency. — A financial condition which renders 
a person unable to meet the claims of his creditors. 
Such condition may result from accident, or mis- 
fortune, or from the employment of dishonest 
methods. When a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church comes into such financial state 
as the result of fraudulent or dishonest practices, 
and his guilt established, he is to be expelled from 
the Church. 

Itinerancy. — A rotary system which has ob- 
tained in this Church from its earliest history, by 
which ministers are transferred from one charge 
to another by episcopal authority. A distinctive 
feature of Methodism. See Bishop's Cabinet. 

Itinerant. — One who makes his "rounds" on a 
circuit, or travels from one charge to another, 
having no fixed or permanent abode. This applies 
to bishops, district superintendents, and to all 
pastors, all being itinerants. 

Journal.— The name given to the official record 
kept of the regular proceedings of an Annual Con- 
ference, which is to be prepared in harmony with 
certain specified rules and requirements, as set 
forth in the Appendix to the Discipline. Copies 
of all such Journals, for the quadrennial period, 
are to be sent the General Conference for examina- 
tion by the Committee on Itinerancy. This is 
also the name given to the record kept of the 
regular proceedings of the General Conference. 



56 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

The early Conference records kept both in Eng- 
land and America were invariably called "Min- 
utes," a term still used interchangeably with 
"Journal." 

Justification. — "Is that act of God's free grace, 
by which he absolves a sinner from guilt and pun- 
ishment, and accepts him as righteous on account 
of the atonement of Christ." New Testament jus- 
tification, briefly stated, is the pardon of sin. 

Ladies* Aid Society. — An organization among the 
women for the promotion of the social and financial 
interests of the Church, the president of which is 
elected by the Society and confirmed by the Quar- 
terly Conference, and, if she be a member of the 
Church, may be approved as a member of the Quar- 
terly Conference, to which it shall be her duty 
to make an annual report of the work of the Society. 

Laying on of Hands. — A ceremony practiced by 
nearly all Christian Churches in connection with 
consecration and ordination services. It belonged 
to both the Old and New Testament times. In 
the Methodist Episcopal Church a bishop is con- 
secrated by the laying on of the hands upon his 
head of three bishops, or at least one bishop and 
two elders; an elder is ordained by the imposition 
of the hands of a bishop and some of the elders; 
a deacon is ordained by the imposition of the 
hands of a bishop. 

Laymen. — The term applies to and includes all 
members of the Church, whether men or women, 
who are not bishops or members of an Annual 
Conference. 

Laymen's Association. — An organization among 
the laymen of an Annual Conference, which meets 
at the seat of the Conference annually, composed 
of delegates selected from pastoral charges in 
manner prescribed by the Association. Its pur- 
pose is the advancement of the local Conference, 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 57 

and general interests of the denomination, by 
seeking to enlist all laymen in its activities. 

Lay Delegates. — Are laymen, men or women, 
chosen by the Lay Electoral Conferences, to sit in 
the General Conference in equal number with 
ministerial delegates (since and including the 
year 1900), sharing with them like privileges in 
deliberating and in voting. Also persons, men or 
women, constituting the Lay Electoral Confer- 
ence, which meets quadrennially at the seat of the 
Annual Conference to elect lay delegates to the 
General Conference, and to transact other busi- 
ness belonging thereto. (The eligibility of women 
as lay delegates is recognized in new Constitution, 
adopted 1900.) 

Leaders and Stewards' Meeting. — As the name 
indicates, is made up of the class leaders and 
stewards, with whom the preacher in charge may 
advise in regard to sick, needy, or disorderly mem- 
bers, recommend probationers for membership, and 
transact other prescribed business. 

License. — Authority officially given to a person 
to exhort, preach, and do deaconess work. 

Licensing Women. — Women can be licensed in 
the Methodist Episcopal Church to do deaconess 
work only, as the Church gives no authority for 
the licensing of women to exhort or preach. 

Liturgy. — A form of service prescribed for pub- 
lic worship; especially for the celebration of the 
sacraments. See Ritual. 

Local Preacher. — A layman authorized by Dis- 
trict or Quarterly Conference to perform certain 
ministerial functions. He may have a pastoral 
charge as supply under the district superintendent, 
and he may be admitted on trial in an Annual 
Conference. (All preachers on trial in an Annual 
Conference are, for purposes of ordination, as for 
amenability, considered as local preachers; and if 



58 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

a preacher on trial is discontinued, he shall be a 
member of the Quarterly Conference of the charge 
where he at the time resides.) See Discipline, 
1908, If If 203-209. 

Local Union. — A city organization for the pro- 
motion of the work of the Church. In cities where 
there are three or more pastoral charges a Local 
Union is to be formed with board of managers, to 
do mission, Sunday school, kindergarten, indus- 
trial school, social, evangelistic, and church ex- 
tension work. 

Locate. — A term, when applied to a Methodist 
minister, which means that by vote of his Annual 
Conference he ceases to perform ministerial func- 
tions in the traveling connection. His location 
may be by volition on his part, sanctioned by the 
Conference, or by compulsion on the part of the 
Conference; when by compulsion, he has the 
right of appeal to a Judicial Conference (Discipline, 
1908, ^ 160). 

Location, Church. — To prevent the erection of 
church edifices on improper sites a Board of Church 
Location and Erection shall be appointed by the 
Conference for each district, composed of an equal 
number of ministers and laymen, of from two to 
five each, to whom the question of location may 
be referred when it becomes necessary or ex- 
pedient. The decision of the board is final, unless 
overruled by the Annual Conference (Discipline, 
1908, If 82). 

Love Feast. — A simple meal, or feast of love, so 
named from the ancient agapse, kept by the early 
Christians, which, after being long neglected, was 
revived by Mr. Wesley, and is observed now by 
the Church as in the beginning, largely as a prepa- 
ration for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 
See Agape. 

Maladministration. — In the Methodist Episcopal 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 59 

Church this is corrupt, negligent, partisan, or 
prejudicial administration, for which a preacher is 
answerable to his Conference. Errors of judgment 
do not come under this head (Discipline, 1908, 
1241). 

Membership, How Constituted. — Church mem- 
bership is constituted by a person becoming first 
enrolled as a probationer, afterward recommended 
for full membership by the official board or the 
leaders and stewards 7 meeting, and approved by 
the pastor, having been baptized, and, on ex- 
amination, given satisfactory assurances both of 
the correctness of his faith and of his willingness 
to observe and keep the rules of the Church, and 
admitted according to prescribed form. This is 
the usual method by which membership in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church is secured. A mem- 
ber in good and regular standing of another ortho- 
dox evangelical church may be admitted to mem- 
bership by answering satisfactorily the usual 
inquiries, or by certificate of church membership. 

Membership, How Terminated. — Membership in 
the Methodist Episcopal Church may be terminated 
by withdrawal, expulsion, or death. 

Membership, Transferred. — A member in good 
and regular standing in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, removing from one charge to another, is 
entitled to a letter of transfer, which shall be sent 
by the pastor dismissing to the pastor receiving 
such member. Letters or certificates are not 
supposed to be issued direct to a member so 
transferring. 

Membership, Record of. — The preacher in charge 
shall keep an accurate record of all probationers 
and members received and dismissed, withdrawn, 
expelled, removed without letter, and deceased. 

Memoir. — A biographical sketch; ordinarily of a 
person recently deceased, as of the deceased min- 



60 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

isters, whose memoirs are read in the Conference 
memorial service and afterward published in 
Conference Journals. 

Memorial. — A formulated petition or protest, in 
which is set forth a summary of facts in support 
of or against certain legislation. To memorialize 
the General Conference or other legislative body 
means the presentation in proper form of petition 
or protest. 

Methodism. — The title given to a religious move- 
ment developed under the leadership of John 
Wesley in England, beginning in the year 1739, 
and spreading rapidly over England, Ireland, 
Wales, Germany, and America, resulting in a re- 
vival of evangelical Christianity, which was 
probably the most important ecclesiastical move- 
ment since the days of the Luther Reformation. 
The appellation of "Methodist," given to mem- 
bers of a university club at Oxford, of which 
the Wesleys were leading spirits, by the other 
students because of their exact and methodical 
manner of doing things, was destined to become 
the permanent name of the Church organizations 
growing out of this movement. John Wesley, the 
chief founder of Methodism, was born at Epworth, 
England, June 17, 1703; died March 2, 1791, in 
the eighty-eighth year of his age and sixty-fifth of 
his ministry. He was the son of the Rev. Samuel 
Wesley, of the Episcopal Church, and Mrs. Susannah 
Wesley, his wife, she being the daughter of Dr. 
Samuel Annesley, also a prominent Episcopalian 
minister. Mrs. Wesley was by birth, education, 
and natural endowments well fitted to train the 
founder of the denomination, and she is appro- 
priately spoken of in history as "the mother of 
Methodism." 

Methodist, A. — "A Methodist is one who has the 
love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 61 

Spirit given unto him; one who loves the Lord his 
God with all his heart, soul, and mind, and 
strength. He rejoices evermore, prays without 
ceasing, and in everything gives thanks. His 
heart is full of love to all mankind, and is purified 
from envy, malice, wrath, and every unkind 
affection. He keeps God's commandments from 
the least to the greatest, . . . and follows not the 
customs of the world. He cannot join in any 
diversion that has the least tendency to vice. He 
does good unto all men; unto neighbors, strangers, 
friends, and enemies. These are the marks of a 
true Methodist" (Mr. Wesley's definition abridged). 

Methodist Episcopal Church. — Was organized at 
the Christmas Conference held in Lovely Lane 
Ghapel, Baltimore, Maryland, from December 24, 
1784, to January 2, 1785, with 83 ministers and 
14,986 members. For the purpose of settling an 
organization on the western continent Mr. Wesley 
ordained Thomas Coke, giving him episcopal 
powers under the name of superintendent, and 
sent him to America to ordain Francis Asbury a 
joint superintendent, which was done at the 
Christmas gathering, Mr. Asbury being ordained, 
first, deacon, then elder, or presbyter, and later 
was consecrated superintendent, or bishop, in 
which services Bishop Coke was assisted by 
presbyters sent with him from England for the 
purpose. Mr. Wesley also furnished Thomas Coke 
with a printed liturgy — Articles of Religion, a 
Sunday Service, and a collection of hymns. The 
adoption of these provisions thus made by Mr. 
Wesley, with some additions by the Conference, is 
what is called the organization of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

Methodist Bodies, Other. — Some of the other 
Methodist bodies are: African Methodist Episco- 
pal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Congrega- 



62 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

tional Methodist, Colored Methodist Episcopal, 
Free Methodist Church, Independent Methodist 
Churches, Methodist Episcopal Church, South; 
Methodist Church in Australia, Methodist Church 
in Canada, Methodist Church of Japan, Methodist 
Protestant Church, Primitive Methodist Church, 
Wesleyan Methodist Church, with yet others, mak- 
ing sixteen in all, with a combined membership of 
nearly ten millions, the Methodist Episcopal hav- 
ing more than three million communicants, and 
being the largest Protestant denomination in the 
world. 

Methodist Advocate and Journal. — A weekly 
paper published at Athens, Tennessee. 

Methodist Brotherhood. — A men's organization 
which has for its aim the mutual improvement of 
its members by religious, social, literary, and 
physical culture, the promotion of the spirit and 
practice of Christian brotherhood, the increase of 
fraternal interest among men, and the develop- 
ment of activity in all that relates to social, civic, 
and industrial betterment, and the building up 
of the Church by leading men into its communion 
and fellowship. Among four committees may 
these activities be distributed: on Religious Work 
and Social Service, on Bible and Mission Study, 
on Fellowship, and on Membership. This Brother- 
hood was organized at Buffalo, New York, March 
11, 1908, by consolidating the Brotherhoods of 
Saint Paul and Wesley, and was recognized by 
the General Conference of the same year (Disci- 
pline, 1908, If 449). 

Methodist Hymnologist. — This applies preem- 
inently to Charles Wesley. While a minister of 
marked ability, yet as writer of hymns he excelled. 
Of the several hundred hymns written by him 
one hundred and twenty are preserved in the 
Methodist Hymnal now in use. 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 63 

Methodist Review. — A bimonthly, the successor 
to the Methodist Magazine, the publication of 
which began in the year 1818; changed in 1830 to 
the Methodist Magazine and Quarterly Review, 
and again in 1841 to the Quarterly Review, and 
to its present name in 1885. It is the oldest pub- 
lication of its kind in America. Its articles on 
theological, biographical, historical, literary, and 
scientific subjects are well written and beneficial 
alike to ministers and intelligent laymen. Is pub- 
lished at New York, and its editor is elected by 
the General Conference every four years. 

Methodist Year Book. — This annual, of upward of 
two hundred and fifty pages, contains a collection 
of up-to-date statistics, facts, and information of 
much value about the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Minutes, Conference. — See Journal. 

Missions, Christian. — These are organizations 
planted in home and in foreign fields by the Chris- 
tian Church for the propagation of the gospel and 
for benevolent and charitable work. They ema- 
nate from the example and teaching of Christ. 
Through them the cause of Christianity is pro- 
moted, and the command of Christ, to go into all 
the world and preach the gospel to every creature, 
is fulfilled. 

Missionary. — Is a person sent out by the Church 
to unchristianized peoples to make the gospel 
known or to do educational or charitable work. 
He is an ambassador of Christ to the unsaved, 
working under direction of the missionary organi- 
zations of the Church in home or in foreign fields. 

Missionary Boards. — See Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions and Board of Home Missions and Church 
Extension. 

Missionary Collection. — An offering made an- 
nually by members and friends of the Church, 
along with monthly offerings by the Sunday 



64 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

schools, for the support of the missionary work 
under the care of the Church. While liberal 
offerings are made to other benevolent organiza- 
tions, yet upon this collection the Methodist 
Episcopal Church lays special emphasis. 

Missionary Rule.— -A rule which provides for the 
election and ordination to the office of deacon: 
"Those preachers on trial who shall be appointed 
by a bishop to a foreign mission, or to a remote 
field in any Conference, or to a church in a foreign 
country outside of a Mission or Conference, or to 
a chaplaincy in the army or navy, in a prison or 
reformatory, sanitary or charitable institution; 
provided, that the bishop and a majority of the 
district superintendents recommend such election 7 ' 
(Discipline, 1908, 1f 167, § 4). 

Missionary Sermon, Conference. — Prior to the 
General Conference of 1908 a sermon so known 
was preached during the sessions of each Annual 
Conference by a member of the body. For this 
purpose the presiding bishop appointed a member 
of the Conference, with alternate, for the next 
annual session. The above-named General Con- 
ference having, however, made no provision for 
the Conference missionary sermon it is no longer 
a Disciplinary requirement. 

Missionary Society. — The Missionary Society of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 
the city of New York in the year 1819. From that 
time until the end of the year 1906 the missionary 
work of the Church, both home and foreign (ex- 
cept that done by the women's societies), was car- 
ried on under direction of this Society. In the 
eighty-seven years of its existence nearly forty- 
four millions of dollars was received and ad- 
ministered by it in organizing and developing 
Missions and Mission Conferences in Liberia, East 
and West Africa, Japan, Norway, Sweden, China, 



METHODIST DICTIONARY Gj 

Italy, Bombay, Bengal, Burma, Malaysia, Korea, 
Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, Ger- 
many, Philippine Islands, France, Mexico, and in 
South America, besides the work organized and 
supported by it in the United States, Territories, 
and insular possessions. On January 1, 1907, this 
Society was succeeded by the Board of Foreign 
Missions, for the foreign work, and the Board of 
Home Missions and Church Extension, for the 
home work. See these Boards. 

Mourner's Bench. — A seat or altar at which a 
penitent sinner, mourning for his sins, may 
present himself and make his confession, with 
grief, godly sorrow, and penitential tears; seeking, 
in the name of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins and 
reconciliation to God. 

Neglect of Means of Grace. — A member neglects 
the means of grace when he is habitually absent 
from the public worship of God, the Supper of 
the Lord, the social services, or when he omits 
family and private prayer and the reading of the 
Scriptures. Such neglect may end in his falling 
from grace, and in the forfeiture of his member- 
ship (Discipline, 1908, If 104). 

Negotiating Appointments. — This has reference to 
the matter of arranging appointments between a 
minister and congregation, by direct communica- 
tion, in advance of Conference session. Such 
procedure is contrary to the spirit of the itinerancy 
and harmful to the polity of the Church, and is to 
be discouraged by bishops, pastors, and congrega- 
tions (Discipline, 1908, Appendix, ^ 46). 

Nonpastoral or Detached Positions. — Positions 
outside the regular pastorate to which a bishop 
may appoint a member of an Annual Conference; 
such as district superintendent, college president, 
professor, student, evangelist, secretary, field 
agent, publishing agent, editor, endowment sec- 



66 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

retary, to hospital, chaplaincy, superintendent of 
mission, to temperance work, benevolent institu- 
tion, Deaconess Home, and other positions. About 
thirteen per cent of ordained Methodist ministers 
are serving the Church in detached positions under 
episcopal appointment. 

Official Board. — An official board is organized by 
the Quarterly Conference of a charge, to continue 
during its pleasure, and is composed of all the 
members of the Quarterly Conference of a circuit 
or station, and may discharge such duties as the 
Quarterly Conference may direct, including those 
of the leaders and stewards' meeting (Discipline, 
1908, 1f 103). 

Order of Public Worship. — A form of worship 
adopted by the General Conference, and set forth 
in the Book of Discipline and Methodist Hymnal, 
to be uniformly used in congregational worship. 

Order, Rules of. — See Rules of Order. 

Orders, Ministerial. — There are two ministerial 
orders: the one, deacon; the other, elder, or pres- 
byter. The ecclesiastical title "bishop," as is 
generally conceded, denotes high ministerial office 
and not a distinct order; to this high office an elder 
is consecrated, as first among equals and differing 
from an elder only in official functions. 

Ordination. — An act of setting apart in solemn 
service for the office and work of the ministry as 
deacon or elder in the Church of Christ. In this 
service there is the laying on the head of the 
candidate the hands of a bishop, or of a bishop 
and elders. 

Ordination Vows. — Solemn declarations of belief, 
on the part of the candidate, in a personal call by 
the Holy Ghost to engage in the work of the min- 
istry; of belief in all the canonical Scriptures of 
the Old and New Testament, and that they con- 
tain all the doctrines required for eternal salvation 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 67 

through faith in Christ; along with a solemn 
promise to read and expound the same; to instruct 
the youth, visit the sick, poor, and impotent; to 
diligently strive to fashion his life according to the 
doctrines of Christ, and to be an example to the 
flock of Christ; and to reverently obey his chief 
ministers, submitting to their godly judgment. 
All these declarations and promises are made 
prior to his ordination to the order of deacon or 
elder (Discipline, 1908, Iff 468, 469). 

Parsonage. — The official residence of the parson, 
or preacher in charge, and is usually provided by 
the congregation. 

Parsonage and Furniture, Committee on. — This 
committee is appointed by the Quarterly Con- 
ference for the purpose of building or renting, and 
furnishing, at least with heavy furniture, a par- 
sonage in each charge, for the use of its married 
pastor and his family. 

Pastor. — An undershepherd, whose duty it is to 
care for and feed the flock of Christ. As such he is 
to visit the sick, and from house to house instruct 
the children, seek the straying and the lost, that 
they may be gathered into the fold. As preacher 
in charge, to whom is given the spiritual over- 
sight of a congregation, his work is both minis- 
terial and pastoral. 

Pastoral Charge. — A local society, circuit, or 
station placed in official charge of a minister. 

Pastoral Fidelity. — Faithfulness on the part of a 
pastor in caring for and instructing those com- 
mitted to his care, both publicly and from house- 
to house. He is to reprove, rebuke, exhort, with 
all long-suffering, taking heed to himself and to all 
the flock. He is to lead believers into richer ex- 
perience, and have a deep solicitude for the salva- 
tion of the lost, over whom he is to weep, with 
entreaties to be saved. Fidelity requires that he 



68 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

subordinate all to the one work of saving souls — - 
a pastor's chief work and greatest joy (Discipline, 
1908, If If 138-146). 

Pastoral Term. — The length of time a pastorate 
may continue. Prior to 1804 there was no limit, 
but at the General Conference of that year the 
term was limited to two years; in 1864, to three 
years; in 1888, to five years; and in 1900 the limit 
was removed entirely, so that now, as before, the 
appointment is made for a year, or from Con- 
ference to Conference, but there may be a re- 
appointment from year to year indefinitely to th« 
same charge. 

Perfection, Christian. — The term "Christian per- 
fection" is employed by Methodists to express a 
state of grace implying purity of heart. Mr. 
Wesley defines it to be the "loving God with all 
the heart, mind, soul, and strength. This implies 
that no wrong temper, none contrary to love, 
remains in the soul; and that all the thoughts, 
words, and actions are governed by pure love." 
In Scripture this state is spoken of as holiness, 
sanctification, purity, perfect love, fullness of 
God, of Christ, and of the Holy Ghost. 

Policy. — The plan, manner, and method em- 
ployed by the Church in its operations. 

Polity. — The permanent form or mode of gov- 
ernment inherent in the structure of the Consti- 
tution of the Church. See Constitution. 

Prayer, Kneeling in. — The custom of kneeling in 
time of prayer is as old as the denomination. In 
class meeting, prayer meeting, and in the more 
public worship the scriptural attitude of kneeling 
in prayer prevails. In the Order of Worship as 
printed in the Discipline and Methodist Hymnal 
the worshipers are instructed to conform to this 
order. 

Prayer Meeting. — A service of much importance, 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 69 

for prayer, singing, reading the Scriptures, instruc- 
tion, and exhortation, in which the laity, both 
men and women, along with ministers, participate; 
usually led by the pastor of the church. This 
service, like the class meeting, is a peculiarity of 
Methodism, having originated in the Thursday 
night service conducted by Mr. Wesley for those 
who were "convinced of sin and earnestly groan- 
ing for redemption." It is also an historic fact 
that Methodism had its birth in this John Wesley 
Thursday night service. The social prayer service 
among the laity soon followed, resulting in the 
well-established midweek prayer meeting as con- 
ducted in nearly all evangelical denominations at 
the present time. 

Prayer, Private. — Secret or secluded devotion. 
Mr. Wesley wrote "Private Prayer" in the General 
Rules of the Church. It is to be practiced by 
members of the societies, not only as a means of 
grace but as an evidence of sincerity, and that 
they are indeed working out their own salvation. 

Preacher, Effective. — The term is applied to a 
member of an Annual Conference who is not a 
supernumerary nor superannuate, receiving his 
appointment from a bishop. 

Preacher in Charge. — The minister in charge of 
a circuit or station. He may be a member of an 
Annual Conference — Effective, Supernumerary, or 
Superannuate — or a preacher on trial, or a local 
preacher, who does the work and cares for the 
varied interests of a charge. 

Preacher, Traveling. — A traveling preacher, 
strictly and technically speaking, is one who is a 
member of an Annual Conference in full connection, 
an elder, having graduated in his Conference stud- 
ies, and doing the work of an effective minister. 
Steps leading to this relation are: A local preacher 
on trial in an Annual Conference; a traveling dea- 



70 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

con of the first year; a traveling deacon of the 
second year. 

Preacher on Trial. — A local preacher admitted 
into an Annual Conference, having been previously 
recommended by Quarterly or District Conference 
for the traveling ministry. From the bishop he re- 
ceives an appointment, and is required to pursue 
the Conference course of study. During or at the 
end of the next two years following, if he should 
find himself disinclined to, unfavorably impressed 
by, or should he become conscious of a mistaken 
call to, the gospel ministry, he is at liberty to re- 
tire from the work without Conference action. On 
the other hand, if during this period of two years' 
trial the Conference should become convinced of a 
lack of fitness for, or adaptation on his part to, the 
work of the ministry, or for other sufficient reasons, 
it may discontinue him. In either case his relation 
as local preacher may be continued, and his member- 
ship held in the Quarterly Conference of the charge 
where he at the time resides. 

Presiding Elder. — The term "presiding elder' ' 
was officially recognized by the General Confer- 
ence of 1792, being the first Conference known by 
that name, and from that time until the General 
Conference of 1908 it was an honored, and became 
a world-wide-known, title among Methodist bodies. 
The functions of a presiding elder were those of a 
superintendent, with limited powers. The last- 
named General Conference changed the title, 
substituting the term "district superintendent/' 
without change of ministerial functions or jurisdic- 
tion. See District Superintendent. 

Probation. — A term applied to the period of 
time a candidate for membership is required to 
serve to be eligible thereto. Prior to 1908 the 
minimum time so required was six months, since 
then there is no time limit. The purpose of pro- 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 71 

bation is that the candidate may have opportunity 
to study the doctrines, Discipline, and usages of 
the Church; and that the church may have op- 
portunity to learn the candidate's fitness for 
membership. When the church is satisfied, and 
the candidate properly recommended, he is eligible 
to full membership. The minimum time required 
of a candidate for membership in an Annual 
Conference, and of a deaconess for consecration, 
is two years. The probationary system is em- 
ployed by the Church as a prudential measure. 

Pronouns. — The pronouns he, his, and him, 
when used in the Discipline with reference to 
stewards, class leaders, Sunday school superin- 
tendents, and Epworth League presidents, shall 
not be so construed as to exclude women from 
these offices. 

Pro-rata Rule, — A rule of proportion to be ob- 
served in making distribution of funds raised for 
ministerial support, in which distribution the 
pastor, district superintendent, Conference claim- 
ants, and bishops shall share alike, on the basis 
of authorized claim or apportionment. 

Psalter. — The name given to the book of Psalms, 
or a collection of psalms, arranged to be read 
responsively by minister and congregation in 
public worship. 

Publishing Agents. — There are four publishing 
agents, chosen quadrennially by General Confer- 
ence — ministers or laymen; two for the publishing 
house at New York, and two for the publishing 
house at Cincinnati; whose duty it is, under 
supervision and direction of the Book Committee, 
to regulate and manage the publications and all 
other parts of the business of the Book Concern, 
except that belonging to the editorial depart- 
ments. 

Quadrennium. — A period of four years. The 



72 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

term is applied to the interval between the ses- 
sions of the General Conference. 

Quarterly Conference. — See Conference, Quarterly. 

Ratio of Representation. — Refers to the pro- 
portionate number of delegates from the several 
Annual and Lay Electoral Conferences to the 
General Conference. Each Annual Conference, 
since the year 1900, is entitled to one ministerial 
and one lay delegate thereto for every forty-five 
members, and for a fraction of two thirds of that 
number one more of each may be added. 

Recognition of Orders. — This is a provision of 
Discipline by which the credentials of duly ac- 
credited ministers coming from other evangelical 
bodies to the Methodist Episcopal Church may be 
recognized and accepted, and the person holding 
them received either as local preacher into a 
Quarterly Conference, or on trial, or into full 
membership in an Annual Conference. 

Refusal to Do Work Assigned. — "No member of 
an Annual Conference who declines or ceases to do 
the work to which he was duly appointed, except 
in case of sickness, serious disability, or other 
unavoidable circumstance, shall on any account 
exercise the peculiar functions of his office, whether 
deacon or elder, or even be allowed to preach 
among us; nevertheless, the final determination in 
every such case is with the Annual Conference" 
(Discipline, 1908, <H 164, 252). 

Regeneration. — The term signifies a new crea- 
tion, or new birth. A work of the Holy Spirit, by 
which a change is wrought in the nature of a be- 
lieving sinner, placing him in a new moral state. 
Regeneration is nearly related to justification, 
with this difference, that by the latter is meant 
something done for us — pardoned, while by the 
former is meant something done in us — made a 
new creature. Regeneration is regarded by the 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 73 

Church as an experience essential to eternal 
life. 

Renewing the Covenant. — A religious practice 
introduced by Mr. Wesley. It had its beginning 
on the first Sunday in the year 1755, when Mr. 
Wesley requested everyone to renew his covenant 
by making a pledge to God, in which he bound 
himself to a more faithful service. 

Repentance. — In a purely religious sense re- 
pentance signifies conviction of sin, accompanied 
with godly sorrow for, confession of, and a turning 
away from, sin, and by faith accepting the Lord 
Jesus as a personal Saviour from sin and its pen- 
alties. True repentance is followed by justifica- 
tion and regeneration. 

Revival. — "A revival of religion is a gracious 
work of the Holy Spirit, unto righteousness, in 
human souls, characterized by unusual intensity 
and breadth of operation, and commonly limited 
as to time" (J. 0. Peck). 

Ritual. — The Ritual is the prescribed form as 
used in the Order of Public Worship, in adminis- 
tering the sacraments, at funerals, marriages, 
ordinations, consecrations, corner stone layings, 
and dedications. 

Rules, General. — These Rules were written by 
Mr. Wesley, and adopted by the Church, for the 
regulation and government of the moral and 
religious life and conduct of members and pro- 
bationers. They cannot be revoked or changed 
by General Conference, except as indicated in 
J 47 of Discipline, 1908. 

Rules of Order. — These comprise fifty distinct 
rules adopted for the government of the sessions 
of the General Conference. They relate to organi- 
zation, order of business, duties of officers, priv- 
ileges of members of the body, motions, resolutions, 
voting, memorials, formation of standing com- 



74 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

mittees, with miscellaneous rules. They are 
printed complete in the Discipline (Discipline, 
1908, Appendix, «|[ 26). 

Rules for Preacher's Conduct, — Twelve distinct 
rules were prepared by Mr. Wesley for his "help- 
ers," or preachers. They relate to a preacher's 
use of time, to prudence to be observed by him 
while in homes of parishioners, to the matter of 
discouraging evil reports circulated about others, 
and to his own words — that he speak evil of no 
one. He is required by these rules to lovingly 
reprove in others what he sees wrong, to avoid 
affectation, to be ashamed of sin, to be on time, 
to spend the time in trying to save souls, and to 
give attention to all the details of the ministry, 
having no will of his own but as a son in the 
gospel. Rigid rules governed members of the 
"Holy Club" and Mr. Wesley to the end of his life. 
His followers are taught by his example to live 
and labor by rule, which characterizes them real 
Methodists. (See Stevens's History of Methodism, 
vol. ii, p. 462, and Book of Discipline.) 

Rules, Restrictive. — These are rules adopted by 
the Church prohibiting the General Conference 
from changing any part or rule of our government 
so as to do away episcopacy; destroy the plan 
of our general superintendency; revoke or change 
the General Rules of the Church; deprive min- 
isters of the right of trial by the Annual Confer- 
ence, or by a select number thereof, nor of an 
appeal; nor members the right of trial by a com- 
mittee of members of our Church, nor of an appeal; 
from appropriating produce of the Book Concern 
and Chartered Fund to any purpose other than 
for the benefit of traveling, supernumerary, and 
superannuated preachers, their wives, widows, and 
children — without a two-thirds vote of all the 
Annual and Lay Electoral CQnferences, and a 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 75 

two-thirds vote of the General Conference. The 
initiative may be taken by the General Conference, 
or among the several Annual or Lay Electoral 
Conferences. Articles of Religion, however, can- 
not be changed by this ordinary constitutional 
process (Discipline, 1908, If 46). 

Sacrament. — A sacrament is a rite ordained of 
Christ as an outward and visible sign of an inward 
and spiritual grace. Methodists recognize but two 
sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the 
gospel; that is, baptism and the Supper of the 
Lord. 

Select Number. — A jury composed of not less 
than nine nor more than fifteen members of an 
Annual Conference, appointed by the Conference, 
presided over by a bishop , or by a chairman whom 
he as president of the Conference may appoint, 
to try the case of an accused member of an Annual 
Conference (Discipline, 1908, % 242 , § 3). 

Seminary Rule. — A rule which provides for the 
election and ordination to the office of deacon 
one who has been a local preacher and student in 
one of the theological seminaries of the Church 
for two full years, received on trial, and com- 
pleted satisfactorily to the Conference the first 
two years of Conference studies. 

Special Advices. — Under this title a chapter in 
Book of Discipline is devoted to pointing out the 
evils of intemperance, extravagance in dress, un- 
suitable marriages, divorce, slavery, and improper 
amusements, and the attitude of opposition min- 
isters, members, and probationers should take 
toward these fruitful sources of evil. 

Statistics. — Tabulated statements, made up from 
reports each pastor is required annually to furnish 
the Annual Conference for his charge, of members 
and probationers, Sunday school scholars, teach- 
ers, and officers, Epworth Leagues and members, 



76 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

ministerial support, church property, and of the 
various benevolences. These reports are com- 
piled by the Conference statisticians and published 
in the Journal, so making a new statistical exhibit 
each year for each pastoral charge in a Conference. 

Stewards, Conference Board. — A board which 
may consist of both ministers and laymen, to 
which shall be referred the estimates made by the 
several Quarterly Conferences for the support of 
Conference claimants related thereto, with the 
name of each claimant; and out of funds available 
for Conference claimants' support shall, with the 
approval of the Annual Conference, make an 
equitable allowance to such claimants severally 
as are in special need (Discipline, 1908, If 315). 

Steward, District. — One of the stewards of a 
pastoral charge, so appointed by the Quarterly 
Conference, whose duties are to attend the annual 
meeting of the district stewards, when called to- 
gether by the district superintendent, for the 
purpose of estimating the amount necessary to 
furnish the district superintendent a comfortable 
support, including house rent and traveling ex- 
penses; and apportion the same among the charges 
of the district; along with claim of bishops and 
Conference claimants, according to the ability of 
each charge, as laid upon the district by the 
Annual Conference (Discipline, 1908, Iffl 295, 306). 

Stewards, Local Board. — The Board of Stewards 
of a pastoral charge is composed of not less than 
three nor more than twenty-one persons, who are 
members of the church and of solid piety, who 
know and love Methodist doctrines and Discipline, 
and of good abilities to transact the temporal busi- 
ness of the church. The business of this board 
is to provide for ministerial support, relieve and 
comfort the needy and distressed members, report 
disorderly and sick members to the pastor, tell 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 77 

ministers what they think wrong in them, provide 
the elements for the Supper of the Lord, and en- 
courage all to regular and systematic giving (Dis- 
cipline, 1908, 111(292,300). 

Steward, Recording. — Is elected by the Quar- 
terly Conference, being a member of the local 
board, whose duty it is to keep the records of the 
Quarterly Conference, and an individual record of 
pledges and contributions made by each person 
for pastoral support, and pay the money collected 
to the ministers authorized to receive the same, 
under direction of the stewards. The recording 
steward is also the custodian of all old and filled- 
up records of the various church boards (Disci- 
pline, 1908, If If 99, 100, § 4, 298, 299). 

Sunday School. — A school for moral and religious 
instruction, with the Bible as text-book, meeting 
on the Sabbath, under direction of the church and 
forming part of the regular services thereof. The 
first Sunday school of which there appears to be 
record was established by Hannah Ball, a young 
Methodist, in Wycombe, England, in the year 
1769, twelve years earlier than the Sunday school 
organized by Robert Raikes in Gloucester, Eng- 
land (1781), assisted by the wife of Samuel Brad- 
burn, a celebrated lay Methodist preacher. In 
the year 1786 such schools were introduced into 
London by the Rev. Rowland Hill, a Calvinistic 
Methodist; and into the United States the same 
year by Francis Asbury, the first bishop : ^he 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Sunday School Books and Other Publications to 
Be Used, Who Decides. — "It shall be the duty of 
the pastor, aided by the superintendent and the 
Committee on Sunday Schools, to decide as to 
what books and other publications shall be used 
in the Sunday schools" (Discipline, 1908, f 422). 

Sunday Schools, General Board. — This board was 



78 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

created by the General Conference of 1908 for the 
purpose of giving general oversight to all the 
Sunday school interests of the Church, under 
direction of the General Conference. Its work is 
to be done under a Board of Managers composed 
of twenty-seven members, three of whom shall 
be effective bishops, the other twenty-four min- 
isters and laymen, expert in Sunday school work, 
with at least one member resident in each General 
Conference district. A corresponding secretary 
shall be its chief executive officer. Office of board 
is in Chicago, Illinois (Discipline, 1908, Iffi 416, 
417). 

Sunday School Literature, Editor of. — 'The Gen- 
eral Conference shall elect each quadrennium an ed- 
itor of Sunday school literature. He shall also, in 
consultation with the publishing agents, the board 
of managers, and the corresponding secretary, have 
charge of the department of Sunday school requi- 
sites, including books of instruction for Sunday 
schools." (Discipline, 1908, ^ 418.) Editorial 
rooms at 150 Fifth Avenue, New York. 

Sunday School, Local Board. — Consists of the 
pastor, as chairman, the Sunday School Commit- 
tee appointed by the Quarterly Conference, super- 
intendent, assistant superintendents, secretaries, 
treasurer, librarian, teachers, assistant teachers 
when regularly elected, and president of the Sunday 
School Missionary Society. The board shall elect 
the officers, fill vacancies, and have the general 
supervision of the school; and shall be auxiliary 
to the General Board (Discipline, 1908, If 419). 

Sunday School Missionary Society. — Is composed 
of all the members of the local school, and is aux- 
iliary to the General Missionary Boards. The 
object of this Society is to promote in all practical 
ways the interests of the cause of missions within 
the bounds of the school (Discipline, 1908, p. 484). 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 79 

Sunday Schools, Quarterly Conference Commit- 
tee. — This committee shall aid the pastor and 
officers in procuring suitable teachers; in pro- 
moting, by the use of proper methods, attendance 
of children and adults at school and public wor- 
ship; and in raising funds to meet the expenses of 
the school. It shall be composed of the pastor, 
as chairman, and of not less than three nor more 
than nine persons, members of the church, for each 
school, who, by virtue of this position, are also 
members of the local Sunday School Board (Disci- 
pline, 1908, If If 419, 421). 

Superannuated Minister. — A Methodist preacher 
who by reason of age or other disability is per- 
manently disabled for the active work of the 
ministry, and by vote of the Annual Conference 
is given a superannuated relation, usually at his 
own request. He may be again restored to the 
effective ranks. Superannuation carries with it 
claim upon the funds of the Conference. 

Supernumerary Minister. — A Methodist preacher 
temporarily unable to do full work, by reason of 
impaired health or other equally sufficient cause. 
This relation is assigned by vote of Conference, 
and usually at the minister's request; it cannot, 
however, be continued beyond five consecutive 
years ^ during or at the end of that time it is 
changed back to effective or to superannuation. 
He has claim upon the funds of the Conference 
only by Conference vote (Discipline, 1908, If 176). 

Supply. — A term ordinarily applied to a local 
preacher who, under the appointment, usually of 
a district superintendent, is placed in charge of 
circuit or station as pastor or assistant. A super- 
numerary or superannuated minister may also be 
employed as supply. 

Support. — The financial aid contributed for the 
support of the gospel and the various benevolent 



80 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

enterprises of the Church. To render such aid is 
an obligation taken by each person on becoming 
a member. No amount is specified, but the 
apostolic rule is to be observed, giving as the Lord 
has prospered. 

Sustentation Fund. — A fund provided in the in- 
terests of inadequately paid ministers serving on 
charges financially feeble. The instructions are as 
follows: "It shall be the duty of each Annual 
Conference, whenever practicable, to organize Con- 
ference Sustentation Fund Societies to supplement 
inadequate ministerial support in charges so finan- 
cially feeble that they are unable to furnish a 
sufficient support" (Discipline, 1908, If 307, § 3). 

Temperance Committee. — In each pastoral charge 
a Committee on Temperance is appointed by the 
Quarterly Conference, to cooperate with the pas- 
tor in presenting the cause of temperance to each 
congregation at least once in each year, when a 
collection is to be taken in aid of the Temperance 
Society of the Church. It shall also be the duty 
of the pastor, assisted by the committee, to see 
that each Sunday school is organized into a 
society for temperance instruction, and as far as 
possible have members of the school sign a total 
abstinence pledge (Discipline, 1908, Tf 444). 

Temperance Society. — A Society authorized by 
the General Conference with the following Disci- 
plinary expression: "In order to make more effec- 
tual the efforts of the Church to create public 
sentiment and crystallize the same into successful 
opposition to the organized traffic in intoxicating 
liquors, the General Conference hereby authorizes 
the organization of The Temperance Society of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church' " (Discipline, 
1908, If 444; Appendix, f 19). See Constitution. ^ 

Temporal Economy. — This is a department in 
the Book of Discipline which deals with the 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 81 

secular and temporal affairs of the Church; such 
as providing and administering the funds for 
ministerial support; the building of churches and 
parsonages, or renting the latter, and providing 
the necessary expenses so incurred; providing the 
current expense in maintaining such property; 
and the holding such property in trust for use of 
the Church or disposing of same under direction 
of Discipline. Included in this department also 
is the work of the Ladies' Aid Society (Discipline, 
1908, If If 291-343). 

Tithe. — A tax, or levy of a tenth part, especially 
when paid in kind, for civil or religious purposes. 

Tithing. — Under Jewish dispensation tithing 
meant dedicating, as the minimum, a tenth part 
of one's income to the maintenance of temple 
worship, and to benevolent purposes. Under the 
head of this duty the Church now teaches that 
the scriptural doctrine of regular and systematic 
giving should be practiced by all ministers and 
laymen, to the end that adequate support be 
given to all agencies of the Church, in order that 
the evangelization of the world may be best 
accomplished. The rule of contributing a tenth 
of income is practiced by many Methodists. 

Tobacco. — A narcotic plant, grown originally in 
tropical America, but now in many parts of the 
world. In the Methodist Episcopal Church trav- 
eling and local preachers are required to wholly 
abstain from its use in any form, and to sign 
certificates of total abstinence from its use before 
ordination can take place. 

Tract Circulation, — The Church recommends that 
local tract societies be formed for the distribution 
of tracts and other religious literature; and that 
at the fourth Quarterly Conference of each year 
a committee be appointed on tract distribution 
(Discipline, 1908, f If 368, 369). 



82 METHODIST DICTIONARY 






Transfer of a Minister. — The right and power to 
transfer a preacher from one Conference to another 
is vested in a bishop. He has the right to transfer 
an effective preacher from the Conference over 
which he presides, with or without the minister's 
desire, into another Conference where another 
bishop has jurisdiction without at the same time 
giving him an appointment; but, as he is entitled 
to an appointment, such transfer should not be 
made unless adequate provision is made for his 
protection (Journal General Conference, 1884. Dis- 
cipline, 1908, Appendix, *[f 38). 

Trial of a Minister. — The trial of an accused 
minister may be conducted in the open Conference; 
or through a commissioner appointed by the bishop 
to take the evidence in the case and lay the 
same before the Conference, upon which, with 
such other evidence as may be admitted, the 
case may be determined; or by a select number 
appointed by the Conference of not less than nine 
nor more than fifteen members of an Annual Con- 
ference. The accused has the right to choose his 
counsel, while it is the custom for the Conference 
to provide counsel for the Church. Only a mem- 
ber of an Annual Conference can act as counsel on 
either side (Discipline, 1908, If If 242-244). 

Triers of Appeals. — In each Annual Conference 
five ministers shall be annually appointed by the 
presiding bishop, who shall be known as Triers of 
Appeals. They shall be elders, men of experience 
and sound judgment in the affairs of the Church; 
these, selected from three neighboring Conferences, 
shall constitute the jury of a Judicial Conference 
for trying the appeal of a convicted minister. A 
District Court of Triers of Appeals may also be 
constituted for trying the appeal of a convicted 
member of the Church. Such triers are elected 
by the Quarterly Conferences — one layman from 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 83 

each pastoral charge (Discipline, 1908, ]f^f 273- 
288). 

Trinity, — The Holy Trinity is the threefold per- 
sonality existing in the Godhead — the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost. The doctrine of the 
Trinity is set forth in the Apostles' Creed and in 
the Articles of Religion of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

Trust Funds. — Trust funds of the Church are 
donations, bequests, or grants, made in money or 
property, placed in charge of or held in trust by 
the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
or other member or members of the General or 
Annual Conference, for the benefit of any benev- 
olent object or society of the Church. Such funds 
are secured by bond given by the holder of trust 
funds. 

Trustees of Annual Conference. — Conference 
trustees are members of their Annual Conference, 
chosen in number and for terms of service accord- 
ing to the provisions of a charter or of the Disci- 
pline, by either of which specific duties are named. 
By a charter, secured from County Court or General 
Assembly of State where the laws of each common- 
wealth so authorize, the Annual Conference be- 
comes a body corporate in law, and through the 
trustees acts. Trustees hold all property, real and 
personal, and administer the same according to 
directions usually accompanying its transfer to 
their custody. They hold and distribute all funds 
assigned them by the Annual Conference under 
the terms of each trust or of Conference action. 
Both real estate and moneys from the sale of 
church property, from bequests, gifts, institutions 
of the Church, can come under the control of the 
trustees. Unless particular direction has been 
given, otherwise they invest all money and super- 
vise all property according to their own judgment. 



84 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

Yet the Annual Conference may refuse to adopt 
their report, thereby disapproving their adminis- 
tration. The treasurer of the trustees ought 
always to be bonded (H. L. Jacobs). 

Trustees of Chartered Fund. — See Chartered Fund. 

Trustees, Local Board. — This board is composed 
of not less than three nor more than nine persons, 
each being not under twenty-one years of age, 
two thirds of whom shall be members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, elected annually by the 
fourth Quarterly Conference, or as the law of the 
State may prescribe, whose duty it shall be to 
hold in trust church and parsonage property, under 
direction of the Discipline, for the use and benefit 
of the ministry and membership of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church (Discipline, 1908, 1ffl 319-328). 

Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
Board of. — A legally incorporated body composed 
of twelve persons — six ministers and six laymen — 
one half of the number elected by each General 
Conference to serve for a period of eight years, 
with office in Cincinnati, Ohio. As the legal 
custodian this board holds in trust for the benefit 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church any and all 
donations, bequests, grants, and funds in trust; 
for the benefit of superannuates, deaconess insti- 
tutions, orphanages, old people's homes, hospitals, 
endowment of churches, or for any other benevo- 
lent object or new charity. The board is now 
administering on more than $400,000, in ac- 
cordance with the directions of the donors and 
the General Conference. Report of its operations 
is made to each General Conference (Discipline, 
1908, Iffl 436, 437). 

^ United Societies. — The name given to the so- 
cieties or classes formed by Mr. Wesley of those 
persons who came to him for religious instruction. 
Later such societies were formed in America under 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 85 

the labors of Wesley an converts (Discipline, 1908, 
1126,27). 

University Senate, — The term is applied to a 
body of educators, composed of sixteen persons, 
or one from each General Conference district and 
one at large, appointed by the bishops, who are 
actively engaged in the work of education, whose 
duty it is to determine and revise, at least quad- 
rennially, the minimum equivalents of academic 
work to be required for promotion to the bacca- 
laureate degrees in the educational institutions of 
the Church. The Senate was authorized by the 
General Conference of 1892. At least quadren- 
nially it shall report to the Board of Education its 
requirements and decisions, and on the basis of 
these the Board of Education shall, in its official 
lists and administration, classify the educational 
institutions of the Church, whatever their legal 
and self-chosen name may be (Discipline, 1908, 
1412). 

Usury. — Unlawful interest received or paid on 
money loaned. When this is practiced in business 
a rule of the Church is violated. 

Veterans' Day. — Otherwise to be known as Con- 
ference Claimants' Day, is the Sunday on which 
the pastor is to present, in the public service, the 
cause and claim of veteran ministers of the Church, 
and make an earnest effort to provide for their 
comfortable support the amount apportioned to 
the charge for that purpose (Discipline, 1908, 
11313). 

Visiting. — This is a pastoral requirement, and 
means that the minister shall visit not only the 
sick of his charge, but from house to house, for 
the special purpose of giving religious instruction 
and encouragement to children and adults. Be- 
fore a preacher is admitted to full membership in 
an Annual Conference he is required to answer in 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 



I 



the affirmative the question which is asked him, 
"Will you visit from house to house?" The Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church attaches much importance 
to this function of its ministry. 

Visiting List. — Each pastor is required, at the 
end of the Conference year, to prepare a visiting 
list for the use of his successor, in case of a change, 
the said list to contain the names with the place 
of residence with street and number, if in cities, 
of all members of the church, along with a particu- 
lar account of the charge and a list of subscribers 
to the Church periodicals. 

Voucher. — A voucher is a legal document, 
written or printed, which records payment or 
other business transaction. A preacher's vouchers 
are his official receipts for money paid for church 
or benevolent purposes. 

Watch Meeting. — "A Wesley an custom. Near 
the beginning of Methodism the members of that 
body in Bristol began to meet at night, that they 
might worship without interruption. Mr. Wesley, 
knowing that such meetings would soon be mis- 
interpreted, made them public, and for a time 
held them once a month. Afterward, however, 
they were observed only on the eve of the new 
year, which custom prevails to a certain extent 
to the present time" (McClintock and Strong, vol. 
xii; Supplement). 

Wine for the Sacrament. — The pure unfermented 
juice of the grape. The instructions of the Church 
are that the stewards are to provide, or cause to 
be provided, whenever practicable, unfermented 
wine for use in the sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper. 

Withdrawal from the Ministry under Charges. — 
A minister accused of immorality, or against whom 
charges of immorality have been brought, may 
be permitted to withdraw from the ministry and 



METHODIST DICTIONARY 87 

membership of the Church without trial by vote 
of Conference, but such withdrawal shall be con- 
strued as equivalent to expulsion. 

Witness of the Spirit. — By the "witness of the 
Spirit" is meant the Spirit of God directly wit- 
nessing to the spirit of man that he is a child of 
God. Such an experience is accompanied by a 
clear perception of Jesus as a personal Saviour, 
with the assurance of sins pardoned, and is pre- 
ceded by repentance toward God and the exercise 
of saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Women, Eligibility of. — Women, as lay members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, are eligible to 
the office of class leader, steward, Sunday school 
superintendent, Epworth League president, and to 
seats in the Electoral and General Conference as 
lay delegates. 

Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. — This So- 
ciety was organized in the year 1869 in Boston, 
Massachusetts, by twenty representative women of 
the Church. The purpose for which it was organ- 
ized is the elevation and christianization of women 
in foreign lands, "to engage and unite the efforts 
of Christian women in sending female missionaries 
to the women in the foreign mission fields of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and to support them 
and native Christian teachers and Bible readers." 
Its work is, therefore, supplemental to the Board 
of Foreign Missions, is operating in nearly all 
foreign mission fields of the Church, has under its 
direction several hundred missionary women in 
these fields, and is contributing to the support of 
this work nearly three quarters of a million dol- 
lars annually, the same being dues from members 
of two cents a week and money raised by other 
approved methods. It operates in harmony with 
the Board of Foreign Missions and is under the 
supervision of the General Conference. 



88 METHODIST DICTIONARY 

Woman's Home Missionary Society. — This So- 
ciety was organized in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the 
year 1880, and works in the interest of women 
and children in the home field, supplementing the 
work of the Board of Home Missions and Church 
Extension, the two working in harmony with each 
other. It has authority to collect and disburse 
money, employ missionaries, and do work among 
the neglected populations in the home field under 
Disciplinary directions, as with the Woman's For- 
eign Missionary Society. Its methods for pro- 
viding means for carrying on its work are similar 
to those of the Foreign Society, and in amount 
contributed annually nearly the same. 

World-Wide Missions. — The name of a monthly 
missionary publication, the organ of the Board 
of Foreign Missions. 



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